Smoke and Mirrors
by TheGingerAvenger
Summary: Sabrina left the family business after too many lies. Years later she's sucked back in when her sister claims their grandmother has gone missing. With the aid of a fairy with suspicious motives, their search leads them into a mess of secrets and lies. But the deeper into this world she goes, the less sure she is on who she can trust. Especially when the monsters start fighting back
1. Chapter 1

Hey, folks! I know it's been a while since I've written anything for this site (a year and a half, I think), but this story wouldn't leave me alone. I know this AN is long, but please read the information below, because it is important, especially the rating.

 **Extended Summary:** Wilhelm took a different approach in dealing with the Everafter uprising in America. Instead of building a barrier, he and the surrounding townspeople established an organization tasked with controlling and terminating any supernatural or Everafter threat. Generations later, Sabrina left the family business behind after one too many lies. Soon she's sucked back in when her sister shows up claiming their grandmother has gone missing. With the aid of a fairy with suspicious motives, their search leads them into a mess of secrets, conspiracies, and an organization bent on taking over the world. But the deeper into this underground world Sabrina goes, the less sure she is on who she can trust. Especially when the monsters start fighting back.

 **Rated T:** For violence, death, some dark themes, slight language, and maybe some sexual tension. **No violence, injuries, or deaths will be written in graphic detail.** Just know that this isn't going to be a completely happy and humorous story. People do die and do bad things.

 **Warning:** I don't like saying if there's going to be character death or not, especially since it could change halfway through the story. If you want to know- which is perfectly fine- say so in a review and I'll either send you a PM or will leave you a note at the end of the next chapter.

 **Timeline:** This story is an AU. However, some of the events that occur in this story will mirror events that happened in all of the books. So, to make sure you don't run into any spoilers, you might want to have read all of the books before reading this.

There is going to be Puckabrina, though it will be very slow, for reasons that will become obvious in later chapters. THERE WILL BE NO LOVE TRIANGLES IN THIS STORY. AND NO JEALOUSY ARCS. So this isn't what you want if you're looking for that kind of story. Love triangles are not my cup of tea.

 **Ages:** Sabrina: 20. Daphne: 16. Puck: looks 20ish (there is a reason for Puck being older. You'll find out later in the story.)

 **Translations:** It's safe to assume that any languages used in this story (other than English, Spanish, or Italian) have been translated using Google. Since that's not always a reliable source, some of the translation may be wrong. If you notice something's wrong, and maybe know the right way of saying it, please feel free to let me know and I'll fix it!

 **Disclaimer:** The Sisters Grimm belongs to Michael Buckley, not me. I'm just playing with the characters. The cover image for this story does not belong to me, as well. That came from Google Images.

This story is the result of me being sick with the flu back in January and all they were playing on TV were the Jason Bourne movies. Though it was inspired by watching those movies, this isn't anything like the Bourne movies. It's more like a darker Men in Black AU thing. The first MIB movie, not any of the others.

Any and all comments are welcome. Feel free to critique, say what you like or don't like, or ask any questions. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Oh, monsters are scared," said Lettie. "That's why they're monsters."

― Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane

* * *

 _She remembered the rain. Long afterwards it was the one thing she could recall with enough clarity to make her stomach curl. Not the feel of her sister pressed up against her side on the too big bed, not the sensation of her heart slamming against her ribcage, not the way the apartment felt empty, but the rain; thudding persistently against the windows, marking icy paths down her skin, covering everything in a bleak gray._

 _At first she hardly paid any attention to the cool raindrops beating against her skin as she ran home from the bus stop. Excitement bubbled up inside of her as her sneakers smacked against the sidewalk, her lips spreading into a wide grin. Her report card was safely tucked in her backpack and awaiting approval and praise. She was hoping the A's in math and English and the B in science would be enough to distract her parent's from the C- in gym. Though it wasn't like she would ever use what she learned in that class anyway, so it didn't really matter._

 _The apartment was empty when she got home, but it was an emptiness that buzzed with the anticipation of being filled. She immediately placed her report card on the middle of the fridge, the place of honor, and threw herself onto the couch, listening to the rain tap against the windows as she waited for her family to come home._

 _And waited . . ._

 _And waited . . ._

 _The phone rang, cutting across the silence sharp enough to make her jump and send her heart into her throat. Relief replaced the panic as she reached for the phone, already prepared to ask her parents where they were. As quickly as it had blossomed, the relief shriveled inside of her when she heard the voice on the other end of the phone._

 _It was Daphne's kindergarten teacher. Asking why their parents hadn't picked her up yet._

 _The teacher arrived with Daphne thirty minutes later, armed with a concerned face, worried eyes, and a carefully soft voice. But Sabrina forced a smile past the pit in her stomach and put a confidence she didn't feel into her voice. "We'll be fine. They'll be home soon."_

 _But they never came._

 _Sabrina and Daphne turned on all the lights in the apartment, shoving every shadow into the far corners of the rooms, despite knowing that their mom and dad preferred to use the lights only when needed. Sabrina had never considered herself to be afraid of the dark, but there was something off about her home, a creeping sensation that would travel up her spine whenever she turned the lights off._

 _It was well into the night by the time the two sisters went to bed, curling up next to each other on their parents' bed. It took ten minutes for Daphne to begin snoring, but Sabrina's mind wouldn't let her fall asleep so easily. Worry and panic sent her thoughts careening around inside her head, her muscles to tense, and her stomach to knot. It took much longer for her eyes to finally drift close and to fall into a sleep light enough for the sound of a floorboard creaking to snap her awake. She sat up quick enough to make her dizzy, but through her blurry vision she could just make out the figure of someone standing in the doorway. Her heart leaped to her throat, a mixture of excitement and joy bursting inside of her. "Daddy!" The shout flew from her lips before she fully registered the man's appearance._

 _He didn't move. Didn't surge forward with a laugh and outstretched arms. He just stood there, features obscured by the dark ski mask pulled over his face._

 _Ice coursed through her veins and the joy tied itself into a knot in her stomach. This man wasn't her father. She felt her thoughts slow down and her heart rate pick up as panic squeezed the air from her lungs. What was she supposed to do? Through the panicked haze, her mother's voice, calm, firm, and insistent echoed in her head._

 _"If anyone you don't know gets in here, Sabrina, call 911."_

 _She lunged to the side where the phone rested by the bedside table. Her fingers wrapped around the cool plastic, her heart pounding in her chest and blood roaring in her ears. She had just lifted the phone off the receiver when a sharp_ click _froze her in place._

 _Sabrina slowly turned her head back to the man and saw one arm extended towards her, a bulky object clutched tightly in his hand. A gun._

 _"I'm sorry." He whispered the words in a rough, foreign voice that barely registered in her mind. Everything felt slow and distant, covered in a thin haze. She briefly wondered if she should cry, or beg, or scream. But she couldn't find the time or the desire inside of her, so she just stared at him._

 _A loud_ bang _jolted her out of her trance and jerked Daphne awake. The window by her head shattered as the bullet tore through it, cold air and rain rushing in through the broken glass._

 _Daphne let out a scream that sent fear stabbing into Sabrina's heart. The older girl quickly flung her arms around her sister, twisting her body to where she was shielding Daphne with her own. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, body tensing, and waited with shaking breath for the second gun shot. . .but it never came. Slowly, she turned her head to look over her shoulder at the man, but the doorway was empty._

 _The man was gone._

 _She didn't know how much time had passed before she was able to let go of Daphne and turn back to the phone. Her movements were slow and mechanical as she dialed the number, her voice sounding odd in her ears as she told the 911 operator what just happened. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking. It took just a few minutes before the sound of sirens reached her ears. They didn't move from the bed, even as they heard people entering the apartment._

 _A portly officer with a round face and kind eyes slowly walked into the room, giving both her and Daphne a small smile. "Hello, kids. If you could just come with me, please." A nervous twitch of his mouth. "You'll get to ride in the police car?"_

 _His gaze landed on Sabrina and his nervous smile morphed into a frown. He took a step forward and stretched out a hand, his fingers brushing her cheek. When he pulled his hand away his fingertips glinted with blood. He met her eyes again, but this time no phony smile covered his face. "And we'll get someone to take a look at that cut."_

 _Sabrina lifted her hand and lightly brushed her cheek, staring down at the red that coated her fingers. A fuzzy, far away thought told her that it must have happened when the window shattered. She hadn't felt a thing._

 _They followed the policeman out of the apartment, through the hallway crowded with neighbors trying to see what happened, down the stairs, and out the building. Daphne didn't let go of her hand once, squeezing it so tight that it went numb._

 _By the time they reached the police car they were all drenched in rain. Her clothes, thick and heavy, clung to her skin and her hair was plastered to her face. They were both shivering once they got into the safety of the car's backseat._

 _It wasn't until the policeman started driving down the road that Daphne spoke. She leaned forward in her seat, not once letting go of her grip on Sabrina, and asked, her voice wavering, if the man was taking them to their parents._

 _The policeman looked at them in the mirror and quickly glanced away, mumbling something incoherent under his breath. And that's when Sabrina knew that her parents weren't coming back._

 _She leaned back in her seat as water rolled down her cheeks, leaving the taste of salt on her lips._

. . .

Sabrina Grimm has been held at gunpoint. She's faced down machinegun wielding elves, witches armed with firecrackers, and three rather disgruntled bears. She's been stabbed, shot, and punched on more occasions than she can recall, and she's been sent on missions where the fate of the world hung in the balance.

And yet none of her near-death experiences have twisted her stomach into knots quite like the thought of her physics exam next week.

She leans against the counter and frowns down at the textbook she's hidden underneath, lips moving as she quickly skims over the material. The noise of the semi-crowded Celestial Deer- the mumble of the crowd, voices just loud enough to reach her ears but low enough that she can't make out the words, the clinks of plates and coffee cups- all mingle to encourage the headache pounding in her temples.

She feels frustration bubble up inside of her as she rereads the same sentence for the fifth time, trying to block out the far too loud laughter coming from the skinny little punk- Mr. _Excuse me, I wanted two shots of espresso, not one_ \- at one of the far right tables. She scowls down at the textbook, barely holding back a growl. Since when did all of this stuff turn into gibberish? She could have sworn she understood it in class the other day.

"He's a spy."

The words shatter her concentration in a way that stops her breath. She feels her entire body tense up, shock and alarm freezing her muscles. Her hand stops in the middle of turning a page and she glances up, eyes flickering briefly to her boyfriend Bradley before turning her gaze to scan the slightly crowded cafe area.

"A spy? Who?" Her voice comes out casual and light, a contrast to the way her heart pounds in her chest. _Not here. Not now._ Granny promised they would leave her alone.

Bradley nods his head in the direction of a man seated at one of the corner tables, trying to make the movement inconspicuous but failing miserably. "Him."

Sabrina frowns at the man, narrowed eyes taking in every aspect of his appearance. The trench-coat that could hide just about anything. The way his back is to the door but his table faces one of the mirrors on the wall so he can see everyone who enters the coffee shop. The messy hair and the way he holds the cup of coffee between his hands as if trying to suck up the last bit of warmth. The slight way he hunches over the table, shoulders stooped. "Really? What makes you think that?"

"Just look at that costume. And he hasn't moved since I got here. He practically screams spy." Bradley nods his head in solemn appreciation. "I admire his ability to get into character."

Sabrina looks at Bradley, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips, because the man doesn't scream spy. He just screams man-who's-hit-rock-bottom. Or man who made the questionable choice of dressing up as a hobo for Halloween. Her muscles slowly begin to relax, her fingers uncurling from the fists she doesn't remember making, and she berates herself for panicking. The likelihood of a spy taking the time to infiltrate a college-student infested coffee shop like the Celestial Deer is low, as is the likelihood that Bradley, who wouldn't notice a gun if it was being pointed at his face, would be able to pick a spy out of a crowd.

Her grin widens as she stares at Bradley. He leans against the other side of the counter, squinted eyes trained on the customer and lips bunched to the side in concentration. It never fails to amaze her how seriously he takes the game of guessing people's Halloween costumes. "I thought the whole point of being a spy was to be unnoticeable?" She says.

He looks over at her and smiles, teeth flashing against his brown skin. "He's trying to be obvious so we won't suspect anything."

"Huh, well that backfired."

"He wasn't expecting to come across the keen observational skills of one Bradley James." He pushes himself off the counter and turns to face her, brown eyes crinkling at the edges as his smile widens.

A snort erupts from her lips and she rolls her eyes. "The oldest mistake in the world," she mutters, glancing back down at her textbook.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me, are you still studying?"

Sabrina glances over her shoulder at the exasperated voice and sees her friend Annabelle coming out of the kitchen, arms loaded down with a large box of pastries. The other blonde eyes Sabrina's textbook with a mixture of disgust and incredulity. "You've been going at it none stop for like a week. Don't you think it's time to take a break?"

"Not if I want to pass my classes," Sabrina says, raising an eyebrow. "Don't you have exams to study for?"

Annabelle lips split into a wide grin, green eyes twinkling. "Not right now!" She drops the box of pastries unceremoniously onto the floor in front of the display and crouches down in front of it. "I think most of my teachers pity us, to be honest. One of 'em keeps warning us about the amount of work we'll have to do once we graduate and start teaching."

A small grin twitches at the corner of Sabrina's lips. "I can't blame him. Teaching sounds horrible."

The other girl leans back on her heels once she rips the box open, her lips pursed to the side, and gives Sabrina a mock contemplative look. "You know, I think you'd be a good teacher."

Sabrina rolls her eyes in response, a short laugh bursting from her mouth. "I'm not so good with little humans," she says before turning her attention back to the list of equations that might as well have been written in Chinese.

Annabelle laughs, one of those big, no-holding-back laughs that never fails to bring a smile to Sabrina's face and a glare from their manager. Annabelle turns her grin to Bradley. "What about you? You want to teach?"

Bradley shakes his head quickly, holding up his hands. "No, no, no, I think I'd better stick with numbers instead of people."

Annabelle shakes her head playfully, a smile curling the edges of her lips. "Aw, look at the two of you, my little asocial babies."

"You know one day you're going to come home from a long day at work, covered in toddler spit and glitter, and you're going to remember this conversation. And when that day comes, you're going to think "hey, those asocial babies were really on to something'," Bradley says, earning a loud burst of laughter from the other girl.

Sabrina continues to feel her muscles relax, the stress of her impending test dying away as she listens to the two chat. A banter and conversation that feels so normal. There's no secret code hidden in their words, no subtle eye gestures, no hidden meanings or weapons or missions or spies. Just normal.

Sabrina feels her smile dim as the two enter the beaten to death conversation of Bradley telling Annabelle that this is what she gets for embarking on the task of trying to socialize the introverts. They both grew up with a normal life. No killing, no running, no fighting or mistrust. They always had normalcy, wrapped tightly around them like armor, and even after two years away from the family business, she has the sinking feeling that she's just borrowing it.

"Fine." Annabelle throws up her hands in defeat. "But don't think this is going to get you out of going to that Halloween shindig tonight."

Bradley shrugs, gaze flickering to Sabrina and then back to Annabelle. "I don't really know . . ." He lifts his hand to rub the back of his neck as he shifts his weight on his feet. "I mean, I know Sabrina doesn't really like Halloween-"

Sabrina looks over at him, a frown on her face. "I don't, but you do and you've been looking forward to it for months."

It's usually not a holiday Sabrina looks forward to, what with all the odd excitement for dressing up as creatures that will kill you quickly and without the slightest bit of hesitation. But it was one of Bradley's favorite holidays.

A bit of heat colors Bradley's cheeks. "I . . .I wouldn't say months."

Sabrina raises an eyebrow at him. "Bradley, you bought your costume at the beginning of August."

"I was afraid they'd run out by the time October came around?" He frowns at Sabrina's snort. "Hey, Miles Morales is a very popular character."

"Oh, right, of course. How silly of me not have known," Sabrina says, rolling her eyes playfully. She nods her head at Annabelle. "Did you ever decide who you were going as?"

"Well, I was thinking about going as Sleeping Beauty, but I think I'm going to go as the princess from the Princess and the Frog. It's such a romantic story."

Sabrina scoffs, the sound coming out more bitter than she meant. "In the original tale, she threw the frog against the wall instead of kissing him. I wouldn't call that romantic."

Annabelle scowls at her. "Okay, buzzkill. Who are you going as?"

Sabrina shrugs, a halfhearted movement, and waves a hand vaguely in the air. "That one assassin from that movie with the superheroes."

Annabelle's eyebrows rise. "Really?" She cocks her head to the side as she studies Sabrina with narrowed eyes before shaking her head, a smile curling her lips. "I can't see you being an assassin. You're just too . . .good to kill people."

Sabrina barely manages to stop herself from wincing, her stomach twisting painfully. For a brief second, she can't remember how to breathe, her mouth hanging open slightly as the comment runs in circles around her mind. She manages to compose herself and force her lips into a smile that goes against the needles stabbing at her. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. There are a lot of people I would like to kill." Despite her attempts, her voice comes out sounding tight and strained. She quickly glares down at her textbook, gripping the edges tight enough to turn her knuckles white, and hopes that no one noticed . . .

Bradley's hand brushes against hers as Annabelle starts a monologue about potential hairstyles, the contact jerking her attention to him. He's staring at her with that concerned face that always sends guilt curling inside of her. "Are you okay?" He whispers, low enough that Annabelle can't hear him.

"I'm fine." Sabrina forces her lips into a smile as her go-to answer flies from her lips.

Bradley frowns, hurt mingling with the worry in his eyes, and Sabrina finds herself wishing that he wasn't so good at being able to tell when she's lying. But, like always, he doesn't push for an honest answer.

She opens her mouth to say something to make him smile, though she hasn't figured out what yet, when a shout of surprise interrupts her. Sabrina looks out at the cafe area to see that Bradley's would-be spy has knocked over his cup of coffee, spilling the dark liquid all over the surface of the table. She tries to ignore the relief pouring over her as she sends Bradley an apologetic look before grabbing a towel and navigating her way through the maze of tables and chairs that make up the cafe.

Her mind busies itself with wondering what they would think of her if they really knew about who she was. If they somehow heard about all the gruesome details of her past, of all the things she's done. . . . She feels her lips twist into a mirthless smirk as she steps around a pair of chatty elders. She highly doubts they'd still want to take her to the party.

Sabrina reaches the table just as the coffee begins to drip onto the floor, taking a deep, steadying breath, and tucking her hair behind her ear. But they will never find out about her past. She'll make sure of that.

She lifts her head to turn a smile to the man, some kind of generic, placating response coming to her lips, but then his hand wraps around her wrist and he leans close to her ear. He whispers in a low, husky voice, the bitter scent of coffee clinging to his words. "Seien sie vorsichtig, wern sie vertrauen. Die Scharlachrote Hand steigt."

For a second time that day, icy shock runs through her veins, body and mind screeching to an abrupt halt. By the time she manages to pull herself together, the man is already out in the street, the bell hung over the door chiming in goodbye.

Without thinking, Sabrina takes a few steps towards the door and barely stops herself, though every nerve in her body is begging to chase him down the street and knock some answers out of him. First part of training is to always act natural when surrounded by witnesses unless absolutely necessary and leaving her job to beat up some random guy on the street doesn't count as natural. Her heart pounds in her chest, her fingers curl into fists so tight her nails dig into her palms, and she suddenly feels breathless. Shoulders heaving with the effort to fill her suddenly too small lungs with air.

The man's words run in circles around her head. It's been a while since she's heard German- the language Granny Relda made them all communicate in when she thought it wasn't safe to speak English- and it takes her a few moments to figure out what he said. When she does, it sounds just enough like gibberish that she can almost brush it off as the ravings of a lunatic.

But it also sounds just enough like a warning to send tingles down her spine.

Bradley is beside her before she realizes it, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek that she hardly feels, before heading to the door. He waves a hand as he leaves, calling over his shoulder, "I'll see you tonight!"

Sabrina barely has enough sense to wave back, a half-hearted movement. "Yeah, see you later," she whispers, the man's words screaming in her head.

 _"Be careful who you trust. The Scarlet Hand is coming."_

. . .

She tries to call Daphne, then Granny Relda, three times before finally leaving tense messages for both because _dangit_ she's supposed to be out. She's supposed to be living the normal life she's always wanted, hanging out with friends and studying, and not getting cryptic warnings from strangers. After calling Daphne again and throwing her phone against the wall with a scream of frustration when she gets sent to voice mail, Sabrina forces herself to take a deep breath and get dressed. She tries to shove the nagging worry to the back of her mind, telling herself she's done all she needs to do. All she can do in this situation. Besides, no agent knows of her location, so it's probably just some weirdo's idea of a Halloween prank.

The party goes by in a blur of laughing faces, sugar highs, too many drunken people, and some poorly executed dancing on Sabrina's part. Though, Bradley not being much of a dancer either, they ended up holding a contest to see who could step on the other's feet more times, or ended up laughing so hard they could hardly breathe, much less dance. The music was loud enough that it felt like each drop in the bass echoed through her, loud enough that she and Bradley couldn't really have a conversation, which was perfectly fine. It was even almost enough to distract her from the panic inducing thoughts of the man's warning and her physics test.

Really, Sabrina thinks she can group this event in with the few Halloweens that were actually fun.

It's close to three in the morning by the time Sabrina makes it to her apartment, leaving Bradley with a long goodnight kiss and a promise to go out for some brunch in the morning. Her fingers wrap around the cool metal of the door handle, but she doesn't move until he disappears around the corner. Then, with a sigh, she opens the door and slips inside. Neither of her roommates are home, already long gone doing whatever they do on Halloween. Both of them are the epitome of social butterflies, and it's a rare occurrence for Sabrina to see them for more than an hour. Besides the random piles of clothes, dirty dishes stacked precariously in the sink, and the occasionally oddly placed shoe, it feels like she has her own place. Which is nice.

Sometimes.

She throws her keys and wig onto the counter as a yawn stretches her mouth wide. The keys slide off the smooth surface and land on the floor with a clink. She's too tired to bother turning around and picking them up.

She's dragging her feet towards her bedroom, briefly debating if it would be acceptable if she just passes out on the couch instead- she doubts her roommates will come back before late tomorrow, so it's not like they'd mind- when she notices it.

The curtain in front of their window shifts softly in the night breeze, the light from the lamp she can swear she turned off before she left sliding across the fabric and glinting off the sprinkle of glass that litters the floor. The hairs on the back of her neck rise, every muscle in her body tenses, and her foot freezes mere inches from the faux hardwood floor. It's a creeping sensation, a cold tingle that races up her spine, the realization that someone has broken her window and slipped into her home.

Her eyes scan the apartment, searching the shadowy room for anything that may be missing or out of place. She strains her ears to hear any indication that the intruder is still here as she starts to step forward. Her movements are slow and steady, filling her lungs with practiced, quiet breaths, as she turns around and sees it. A small light shining through the crack underneath her bedroom door.

Sabrina's lips twist into an angry scowl, her fingers curling into tight fists. Breaking into her apartment was one thing, but breaking into her room? She moves towards the door, her footsteps light and breezing over the few creaky floorboards, and keeps her eyes trained on the light as it moves back and forth.

Her mind churns out possible courses of action. She can wait until the intruder leaves her room and then ambush them. But they may already know she's here. She wasn't exactly quiet when she entered her home, probably because she wasn't thinking some freak had broken into her apartment.

People breaking into her home and strange men whispering warnings into her ear remind her too much of the life she's been trying to ignore for two whole years. Two years of painstakingly recreating a life for herself. She seethes, and it's that anger, sharp and quick, that makes her decision. She waits until the shadow moves to the center of the door and then kicks out with her dominant foot, hitting the door just underneath the handle. It slams open and smacks into someone hard enough for them to let out a satisfying cry of pain and shock. There's a loud crash followed by a thump that shakes the floor.

Sabrina winces at the thought of whatever in her room that's now broken and charges in, slipping nimbly around the broken door. Something hard slams into her, knocking her back against the door frame with enough force to send pain rippling up her spine. She gasps in surprise and barely manages to duck, avoiding the fist aiming straight for her throat.

With a growl, she sinks her fist into the intruder's belly. As the person hunches over with a pained 'uff', Sabrina pushes her body upwards, all too aware of the wall behind her restricting her movement, and sends her elbow into their face. There's a grunt of pain as the person stumbles back, giving Sabrina enough time to slip back into the living room. She squints at the person's face as they follow her, but, since the intruder's flashlight was knocked to the other side of the room, it's too dark for her to make out any distinguishing features. Not that she really cares right now. It doesn't matter who this person is, she's going to kick their butt.

Sabrina dodges a punch aimed for her stomach, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips and adrenaline singing through her veins. It's been far too long since she's practiced the moves, but the feeling is still the same. The blood roaring in her ears, the heat spreading across her body, the way her mind moves like lightening; it all feels too familiar, as if she's been doing this every single day since she quit. A part of her knows tomorrow the adrenaline will be replaced with all the aches, pains, throbs, and stinging cuts, but now, in this moment, the him or me mentality makes her feel alive.

It doesn't take her long to notice that her opponent isn't the best at hand-to-hand fighting. They're sloppy, relying on sheer force and speed instead of using their surroundings. She feels her lips twist as a plan begins to take shape in her mind. She grabs one of their arms, but they twist out of her grasp and catch her in the stomach with an elbow, forcing the air out of her lungs.

She stumbles back and tries to fill her lungs with air, wheezing slightly. The other comes at her quick, just a dark shape, spastically throwing punches and jabs at her stomach, quick enough to be disorienting but not well aimed. Sabrina's lips thin out into a line as she stays light on her feet, twisting and turning around her opponent, throwing in a few of her own hits and taking some, subtly guiding the intruder into one of the room's corners.

The person pulls their arm back for a punch and their elbow smacks loudly into one of the walls. They have just enough time to mutter a frustrated 'fudge' before Sabrina slams her forearm into their collarbone, pinning them against the wall.

Her arm is already pulled back into a fist, anger still screeching inside of her, when her brain registers the light form the lamp spilling across the other person's face, highlighting the brown hair, small nose, and brown eyes wide with shock.

"Daphne?" She gasps.

The younger Grimm stares back at her, confusion and shock melting into a sheepish grin as she raises a hand and wiggles her fingers in a small wave. "Hey, sis!"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** : So I forgot to mention in the last chapter that I'm going to try sticking to a **once every other week** update schedule. That way I hopefully won't burn through the chapter's I've already have written, and it'll be a much more consistent update schedule than if I updated once a week. If you're curious about when the next chapter is coming, just check out my profile where I post updates and stuff.

And for those of you who are curious about when everyone's favorite fairy is going to show up, Puck is going to appear in the fourth chapter. Though he's mentioned in the third.

Thanks for all your comments! They really made my week! This chapter is more dialog, not much on the side of action, but hopefully you'll like it anyway.

Guest: Yes, I have seen Supernatural. It's one of my favorite shows- though I haven't seen any of the past two new seasons. Funny fact, I actually toyed with the idea of writing a Supernatural style AU story for the Sisters Grimm before deciding to go in a completely different direction with this story. Thanks!

DelusionalApple: Thank you!

. . .

 _The day after their parents went missing, Sabrina gave up. She stopped wanting things, stopped wanting to think, stopped wanting to feel, stopped wanting to be. Allowed herself and her sister to be carted from one solemn faced official to another. Allowed the answers to their questions fall mechanically from her numb lips._

 _No, she didn't know if her parents had been planning on going somewhere that night._

 _No, she didn't know of anyone being angry at her parents._

 _No, she didn't leave the door unlocked._

 _No, she couldn't see the intruder's face._

 _No, they didn't have any other family to go to._

 _Her entire body was buzzing, an odd tingling sensation that seemed to force out any other kind of emotion. All sound was muffled, every image blurred, every thought fuzzy. The stubborn pounding of her heart, the pumping of her blood, felt foreign and far off. Even the sour-faced care-worker getting her name wrong repeatedly didn't have an effect on her. She was separated from what was around her by a thick layer of fog, and she had no desire or strength to break through._

 _Their first foster parent was a skinny man with blue eyes that seemed prepared to jump off his face at the quickest available moment. His movements were stiff and jerky, more like a man made out of metal than one made out of bones and tissue. He had an odd love of ferrets and would treat them like they were his own children. Gracing them with their own seat at the dining table, giving them the comfiest comforters, dotting over them with a worry that was palpable whenever one so much as sneezed._

 _Not twenty-four hours after they entered the home, one of the ferrets bit Daphne. Clamped down hard on the little girl's arm and refused to release its grip until she slammed it into the wall. Their foster father wasn't pleased._

 _It was then, with him screaming at the crying girl, with his bulging eyes just begging to be knocked out, with the tears streaming down Daphne's face and the blood down her arm, that Sabrina felt the buzzing sensation begin to fade. The tingling numbness was swiftly overtaken by a burning anger that raged throughout every inch of her body._

 _She kicked the man's shins so hard she was surprised she didn't break anything, and she grabbed Daphne's hand and they ran._

 _They didn't make it on their own for long. It was merely a day until they were taken back to the orphanage and a sputtering and embarrassed Ms. Smirt. But the buzzing and fog didn't return._

 _Sabrina spent that night with Daphne in her cot; her arms wrapped tightly around her little sister- the only thing keeping her tethered to the world- and gently stoked the fire burning inside of her. They would make it. She stared up at the ceiling and repeated thoe words around and around in her head like a mantra, clinging to them as tightly as she clung to Daphne. They would make it. They would make it through whatever life decided to throw their way, and they would make it through it all together._

. . .

It's her nightstand, one of the few pieces of furniture she keeps in her room, that was crushed underneath Daphne's weight when the younger girl was thrown back by the force of the door. The picture of Bradley that was given the prized spot is broken as well, fractures spread across the glass like an intricate spider web. Sabrina frowns down at the ruined picture and runs her finger across the cracked surface, feeling all the edges and cracks beneath her skin. She keeps her eyes glued to the picture and not at her sister standing in the doorway with a bag of ice in her hand and another pressed against her cheek.

Sabrina's shoulders lift in a sigh as she places the picture on her bed. "Was there any reason why you tried to beat the crap out of me?" She asks, glancing over her shoulder at her sister.

Daphne shrugs, a sheepish grin spreading across her face and causing the cut on her lips to bleed again, a line of scarlet against her dark skin. "I didn't realize it was you and you came at me a lot harder than most civilians and I kinda panicked." Her grin widens into something more genuine and teasing as she tosses Sabrina the other bag of ice. "But you have to admit, I did give you a run for your money."

Sabrina catches the bag and rolls her eyes. "All you did was show me that you need to train more for hand-to-hand combat. You still fight like you're glued to one spot." A sigh escapes her lips as she presses the bag against her shoulder, a soothing chill calming the throbbing pain.

Daphne laughs, and Sabrina realizes with a jolt just how much she missed hearing that sound. "And you still favor your right hand. Besides, my strong suit isn't beating people to a pulp. And at least this way you know you haven't completely lost your edge."

Sabrina glances at her broken bedside table and then at her door, hanging on one hinge, before her gaze moves back to Daphne. "Thank you ever so much," she says, her voice dry. "You do know they have these newfangled devices called cell phones that you could have used to call me instead of sneaking into my apartment like a creep."

"I couldn't risk calling you on a phone. You never know who might be listening in." The tone of her voice carries the lightness of someone desperately trying to joke, her eyes flickering briefly down and to the side before she abruptly turns around on her heels and heads into the living room. "Aren't you going to ask me why I'm here?" She calls over her shoulder.

"I figure you'll tell me whether I ask or not," Sabrina answers. She slips past Daphne as the younger girl sits in one of the chairs by the bar, and heads into the kitchen, trying to smother the alarm ringing in her head. Agents only ditch their phones if they're being targeted or followed, and since Daphne's just a trainee for the public relations area, that shouldn't be happening to her. There's also the fact that Daphne chose to "sneak" in through Sabrina's now broken window, instead of waiting for Sabrina to come home or risking a neighbor seeing her picking the lock. Something must be wrong. Her eyes do a quick once over of her sister as she passes. As far as she can tell, she didn't do much harm to the younger girl. Daphne'll probably have a few bruises and sore spots in the morning- something that sends guilt twisting her stomach- but nothing that will kill her. Sabrina turns around and opens one of the cabinets, trying to busy herself with grabbing two of the only clean mugs she had. "Want some coffee?"

"No."

Sabrina's hands hesitate before grabbing the mugs, the ceramic cool against her palms. She knows she's been away from Daphne for a while and that a lot might have changed, but there have only been a few occasions when the other girl's voice sounded that subdued. And none of those instances were pleasant.

She places the mugs on the counter a little harder than she means too, the clink as they meet the hard surface cutting through the air, and Sabrina twists around to stare at Daphne, eyes narrowed. The girl looks healthy. Fit. Well-fed. But there's a shadow of worry lingering around her. She chews on her bottom lip, her eyes focusing on everything but Sabrina, and she appears to be bouncing in one spot, her fingers tapping out an erratic beat on the bar.

"Daphne?" Sabrina can already feel the surge of panic rising inside of her, her mind forming all the possible scenarios where things could have gone horribly, horribly wrong. She presses the palms of her hands against the edge of the counter, trying to ground herself. "What is it?"

Daphne's eyes stare firmly at the top of the counter before they finally flicker up to meet Sabrina's gaze. Her throat works for a second before she manages to croak out, "Granny's gone missing."

Sabrina's stomach drops unpleasantly and her breath hitches in her throat, a short, choked sound, as her mind comes to a screeching halt. She quickly turns back to the mugs and forces herself to go through the familiar motions of fixing coffee, trying to squash the worry before it can turn into full blown panic. Granny may be older, she may be part of the small family Sabrina has left, but she's been taking care of herself for years, surely she'd be okay. Sabrina takes a deep, steadying breath and tries to make her voice sound casual. "Are you sure she isn't out on a mission the agency is just trying to keep under-wraps?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Indignation laces Daphne's voice, whether because Sabrina was too good at sounding unconcerned or because she asked such an obvious question is unknown. "She told me before she left that she was going to check up on a possible incident."

Sabrina turns around as the coffee begins to brew, the familiar and bitter scent slowly filling the apartment. She leans back against the counter and crosses her arms over her chest, lips pulling down at the corners in a small frown. "And how long ago was this?"

"About a week. She stopped calling in around the fifth day, and you know she always tries to call once a day when she goes off on her own."

Sabrina tilts her head to the side as she stares at Daphne, trying to squash the worry crawling up her throat. "And did the agency assign any backup for her?"

The cracked surface of the bar suddenly becomes very interesting to Daphne. "Not exactly," she mumbles to it.

Sabrina's frown deepens and a small crease appears between her eyebrows. "So, she went by herself?" It wouldn't be entirely unlikely. Though Granny's been assigned to deal more with paperwork and handing out assignments to more "able-bodied" agents, the old woman does enjoy sneaking off and doing hands on work despite her age.

She can just barely make out Daphne's wince. "No."

Sabrina stares at Daphne through narrowed eyes before turning around and filling the mugs with coffee as she steels herself for the inevitable reaction her question will cause. She stares down into the cup, the heat from the liquid drifting up and warming her face. "And Mr. Canis went with her?" She tries to make her voice sound nonchalant, to throw the words out into the air as if they don't really mean anything.

The screeching sound of the chair sliding across the floor slices through the room and Sabrina can practically feel Daphne's glare burning into her back. "Are you serious?"

Sabrina turns around and struggles to meet Daphne's glare with a calm look. "Yes, I'm serious."

"Yes, he was with her but that doesn't mean anything," Daphne growls through gritted teeth. Her body tenses, her shoulders cutting a straight line, and her brown eyes narrow into thin slits.

Sabrina sighs. "Daphne, he's-"

"Mt. Canis would never hurt Granny."

Irritation sparks inside Sabrina, turning her words sharp. "At least not intentionally."

Daphne laughs, a short, bitter sound, as her lips twist upwards in a mock smile. "You haven't changed at all."

"And neither have you," Sabrina snaps.

A heavy silence fills the air between them, stretching out for a few seconds where they don't quite look at each other. Sabrina lifts a hand and pinches the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut tight. When had their relationship gotten so messed up that they start fighting in a few minutes when it's been two years since they've seen each other?

She lets her hand drop to her side, a small sigh brushing past her lips. "Where was she headed?" Her voice sounds too quiet, too soft to break the tension that still lingers.

"To a small country town a little way down south." Daphne sits back down in the chair but still doesn't quite look at her. "The agency reported an entire farm there had been crushed. She wanted to check it out."

"What was the agency's analysis of the situation?"

"They said there wasn't any indication of supernatural activity, but Granny thought otherwise." Daphne's shoulders lift in a helpless shrug as if saying you know how Granny can get.

"Did she have any theories?" Despite everything, Sabrina can't help but feel a spark of curiosity even though it feels like a betrayal to all the hard work she's put in the past two years.

There's a long pause before Daphne lifts her head to meet Sabrina's stare. "She thought. . ." She hesitates, eyes flickering away as if she's having a mental battle over whether to tell Sabrina or not. Her shoulders lift in a deep breath. ". . .itmighthavebeengiants."

Sabrina frowns, taking a moment to decipher the mumble. And then trying to decipher it again. Surely she didn't just hear what she thought she heard? "What?"

Daphne takes another deep breath, releasing it in a long sigh as she leans her head back to stare up at the ceiling. "She thought it might have been giants."

Sabrina's brows knit together in confusion. "But I thought the agency exterminated the giants ages ago."

Daphne lowers her head and shrugs. "Apparently not." She leans forward in her seat a little, spitting out the words quickly in desperation. "Look, Sabrina, I know you didn't want to do any of this, but Granny hasn't called and neither has Mr. Canis and nobody can reach her cell phone and I'm worried and I could really use some backup."

"Backup?" That's what she was now? Backup? Daphne only deigns to talk to her when she's needed? When it's useful? Sabrina glares down at the liquid in her mug. A petty part of her wants to tell her sister no, to tell her to leave and find someone else, to get back to her for ignoring all of Sabrina's texts and calls. The other part of her knows she could never do that to her sister. Besides, this isn't just about her and Daphne. This is about Granny Relda.

But . . . there's something off about Daphne's story. Something that the girl isn't telling her. Sabrina lifts her head and narrows her eyes at her sister. "But why come to me?" She asks. "Why not ask one of the other agents? Someone who's still active in the agency?"

From the way Daphne winces, Sabrina knows the girl was hoping Sabrina wouldn't ask that. "I can't ask them . . ." Daphne hesitates. "I can't ask them because no one at the agency knows Granny took this case."

"What?" Not clearing a mission or investigation with the agency was frowned upon, and often times could lead to the agency investigating an agent's work for possible treason, and wiping of the agents memories. For her grandmother to risk that, to risk being imprisoned or losing her memories, she must have thought something about this case was important.

Daphne seems to take her silence as a sign that she's isn't going to help, because she leans forward, her brown eyes desperate. "For some reason Granny wanted to keep this under-wraps, I don't know, maybe she thought the original report was wrong and that something supernatural had happened – I don't know. All I know is that I can't go to anyone else in the agency and ask them to help find her when she went behind all their backs."

"So, no one knows about this case?" Sabrina says slowly. "No one at all?"

"The only person, other than me and Mr. Canis, that knew is the Hare."

It takes Sabrina just a second to put a face to the ridiculous name. She groans and rolls her eyes. "Daphne, you need to stop giving people weird code names."

"He says he likes it. Besides, you would call him that too if you had to listen to all the stories about his bunnies." She waves her hand through the air vaguely, brushing away that particular subject. "Anyway, he's gathering some info about what she was doing in that town and is going to contact us once we get to the motel she was staying at. Well, us if you want to come."

She can feel it, that thin haze of normalcy that she's been desperately clinging to for two whole years, slipping through her fingers. Sabrina hesitates for just a second before saying, "I'll have to be back by the end of the weekend. Wednesday at the latest. And if we haven't found Granny by then, we have to let the agency know."

Daphne frowns at her. "Why do you have to be back then?"

Sabrina raises an eyebrow, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I have work and school and I've already used my grandmother getting abducted by a giant as an excuse once this semester so I doubt they'll believe me a second time."

Daphne snorts and then smiles, one of the big smiles Sabrina hasn't seen in a long time. "But you're going to help?"

Sabrina sighs, wondering if she will end up regretting this one day. "Yes."

Daphne's grin widens enough to threaten splitting her face in two. "Awesomesauce."

. . .

"You've reached the phone of Bradley James. I'm not available at the moment, but leave your name and number and I'll call you back as soon as possible."

The shrill beep echoes in Sabrina's ears as she takes a deep breath. "Hey, Bradley, it's Sabrina." Her voice sounds so fakely sweet and happy that she almost stops. "I'm not going to be able to make it to brunch tomorrow. Some . . .family business has turned up and I'm gonna be gone for a few days taking care of that- it's nothing serious or bad so don't worry, it's just . . .I'll see you soon."

She hangs up before she can say anything else and glares down at her cell phone, barely holding back a groan. She hates leaving messages. It takes a great deal of strength to stop herself from calling again and leaving a new one. She sighs and sticks the phone in her pocket, looking over to where Daphne is unabashedly snooping around her apartment.

"So, you live here with two other people?" Daphne asks, picking up a picture of Sabrina, one of her roommates, and a bunch of her roommate's friends. It was one of the few times her roommate managed to convince her to go to a party. It ended up being one of the most awkward and uncomfortable nights of her life.

"Yeah," Sabrina says, walking towards her closet. She pulls out just what she needs; three sets of dark colored clothes as well as an extra set, just in case the others get covered in dirt or blood or both or some unidentifiable substance, and places them on the bed. Daphne stands in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe by the time Sabrina's located a small suitcase. The younger girl stares at the small pile of clothes with a frown on her face, but the moment she notices Sabrina staring at her, the frown is replaced with a grin.

"Are they normally out this late?"

"Yep. Sometimes they're not even back for a couple of days." Sabrina focuses on stuffing the clothes into the suitcase and tries to ignore how awkward the conversation feels. It's like she's talking to someone she just met and not having a conversation with her little sister. "They like to socialize a lot," she adds when the silence stretches on too long.

"And you don't?" Daphne snorts. "I thought that's why you wanted to go to college? To socialize, make friends, be normal and all that."

Sabrina bristles at Daphne's tone, stopping her packing as her hand tightens around a shirt. "That's only part of the reason why." She struggles to keep the anger out of her tone, but from the tense sound of her words and the way Daphne's shoulders tighten, she isn't sure she's succeeding. "I wanted to learn things, do something with my life-"

"What? Saving people wasn't good enough for you?" Daphne retorts.

Sabrina shoves a shirt into the suitcase with more force than necessary. "There are other ways of saving people than sneaking around and killing things, Daphne." She brushes past her sister and heads into the bathroom, using the time it takes to pack up any other essentials to try and calm the anger coursing through her. Her shoulders lift in a sigh as she stares down at her shaking hands before pressing them against the cool surface of the sink.

She can remember with vivid clarity the last time she parted with her sister, when she finally decided she had enough of the supposed "family business", when she was finished with all the lies and the killing. When she decided she just wasn't fit for this kind of life. Or realized that maybe she was a little too fit for this life.

Daphne hadn't seemed to like that idea.

Words like you're being selfish, stupid, cowardly, had sprung from the younger girl's scowling lips, her eyes sparking with a kind of pained anger Sabrina had never seen on her sister's face before. But Sabrina had been angry too, is still angry. Angry at being forced into a life she never asked for, for being lied to and used, and for being expected to be A-Okay with it. And then being treated like an enemy when she finally admitted that she wasn't.

She tried to contact Daphne throughout the two years, though the younger girl mainly ignored all of her texts and calls. The few times they did talk started off well, traveled into frosty territory quickly, and ended with them screaming at each other.

Sabrina sighs again and glances at herself in the mirror, a mirthless smirk curling her lips. With the way things are going, they better find Granny soon or they're going to end up killing each other.

She turns her head to stare out of the small bathroom window, studying the wonderful view of the building next door. It's still dark outside. She'll probably be on her way a little after the sun rises. A tinge of guilt stabs her chest at the thought of Bradley and how excited he seemed about going out for brunch. She shoves the guilt back and grabs her toothbrush, her lips pressing into a thin line. He'll understand. Besides, her grandmother's more important than brunch.

When she steps back into the living room, Daphne has returned to smiling, though not as wide as her normal ones, holding the picture of Bradley in her hand. "Who's this?"

"That's Bradley," Sabrina says, and then adds as if an afterthought. "My boyfriend."

Daphne's eyebrows shoot upwards and her mouth stretches into a wider grin that's actually genuine even if it's teasing. "You have a boyfriend?"

Sabrina glares at her as she throws the last bits into the bag and zips up the suitcase. "There's no need to sound so surprised."

Daphne laughs. "I can't help it!" She grins back down at the picture. "I never knew Miss Stiff knew how to flirt with people."

Sabrina rolls her eyes, flinging the suitcase over her shoulder. "Not everyone has your masterful skills of flirtation," she says sarcastically.

Daphne winks at her before holding out the picture to Sabrina. Sabrina can't help but feel this is somehow Daphne's way of offering a truce. "He's cute. Wanna take the pic with you?"

Sabrina takes the picture from her sister and frowns down at it. Bradley grins up at her from behind cracked glass. After a moment, she turns and places it on the bed. "Nah, I'll be back for it when the weekend's over." She nods her head towards the door of the apartment. "Why don't you wait for me outside, I just need to grab a few more things."

Daphne nods her head. "Aye, aye, Captain!"

Once she's sure her sister has left the apartment, Sabrina turns to the ruined bedside table. She stares at the broken furniture before quickly moving the pieces of wood aside until she finds it: the gun she kept taped to the bottom of the table. She reaches out for it but hesitates the moment before her fingers can touch the cold surface. She pulls back just an inch and then presses her lips into a thin line, shoving all doubt and worry out of her mind, and grabs the gun. It feels familiar in her hand, like an extension of herself that she's gone without for too long. And for some reason that familiarity makes her feel like a failure. She shoves the feeling away, checks to make sure the safety is still on and still armed, before reaching behind her and tucking it into the back of her waistband.

It's not as comfortable as when she usually has it strapped to her side or to her leg, and she's going to have to be cautious not to let it poke out whenever she bends over, but it'll have to do. And she can already feel some of the tension and worry draining away in the face of the comfort having a weapon nearby gives her.

"Are you ready yet?" Daphne yells from the hallway. Her shout causes the yappy dog in the apartment next door to begin barking shrilly. Sabrina can practically envision Daphne's wince as the girl shouts, "Sorry!"

Sabrina grabs her bag and glances one last time at the picture of Bradley on her bed. She takes a deep breath that does nothing to settle her nerves, and slings the bag over her shoulder. "Yeah, I'm ready to go."

Daphne chats the entire way down, a non-stop flow of animated conversation, her hand flinging out every now and then to emphasize a point. The sudden shift from angry to chatty rubs wrong against Sabrina. Normally, when Daphne's angry, she stays angry for as long as possible, utilizing the 'cold shoulder' tactic to its full extent. But now she seems a little too friendly; telling Sabrina funny- or at least, funny in Daphne's mind- jokes, flinging an arm around Sabrina's shoulders, asking if she can help carry Sabrina's suitcase. And it bothers Sabrina, though she can't quite tell why.

Daphne holds the door open as they walk outside the apartment building and bounds forward a few steps, flinging her arms out and saying, "Ta-da!"

Sabrina stops in her tracks, taking in the sight in front of her, and groans. "You have got to be kidding me. How is that thing still working?"

Stuck crookedly between a shiny bright red bug and a black van, her grandmother's ancient jalopy could not have looked more out of place. The vehicle looks as old, dirty, and rusty as Sabrina remembers it the last time she saw it. The car seems to sag towards the cement as if begging the ground to swallow it.

Daphne grins at her as she races towards the car, moving to open one of the back doors. "That's not even the best part!" She flings the back door open with a shout of "ELVIS!"

Sabrina has just enough time to drop her suitcase and hold her arms up before the gray blur of Great Dane slams into her, knocking her back a few steps. In the next few moments, she's completely covered in smelly dog saliva and gray hair.

"You bought Elvis with you?" Sabrina can't help but laugh as she bends over and pets Elvis, the dog's tail wagging hard enough to shake his whole body.

"Of course!" Daphne moves over to pet Elvis too, going so far as to give him a big kiss on the top of the head. "There's no better tracker than Elvis."

The Great Dane sits back on his haunches, bursting with pride at Daphne's praise.

Sabrina chuckles and gives the dog one more pat on the head before eyeing the car dubiously. She remembers the days when they went on one of Granny's "training sessions", days spent being cramped in that tiny car with Daphne, Granny, Mr. Canis, and a giant Great Dane taking up most of the backseat, forcing the two girls to be squashed against the side of the car. She wasn't looking forward to traveling in it even if it would only be for a weekend.

"Why didn't Granny take the car with her?" Sabrina can't remember Granny ever parting with her beloved death-trap of a vehicle. She always seemed overly possessive of it, even in the face of the agency's tech crew arguing with her over how dangerous the car's prehistoric technology could be.

"She didn't want the Agency tracking the car, just in case someone got suspicious," Daphne says, patting Elvis on top of his head.

"And you don't think someone's going to track us and get suspicious?"

"I took care of that." Daphne smiles at Sabrina's raised eyebrow. "Do you remember Sam in the security department?"

Sabrina frowns, tilting her head to the side as she tries to recall a face to the name. "Vaguely. He was the one who had the crush on you, right?"

Daphne nods her head and a sneaky, proud smile tugs at the corner of her lips. "I may have managed to persuade him to turn off our tracking device for a few days."

"Oh, you managed to persuade him, huh?" Which means that she used her powers of flirtation, fluttery eyelashes set to stun, to convince him. The poor boy didn't stand a chance.

Daphne laughs. "I told you flirting can have its uses."

A sudden thought hits her and she looks worriedly from the car to Daphne. "It's not . . . still armed, is it?"

Daphne grins excitedly, going so far as to rub her hands together. "Ooooh yeah. Still has all the regular tricks up its sleeves."

Sabrina groans. "Great." Due to Granny's refusal to update her husband's car, they're stuck with unreliable missiles and dysfunctional gadgets. Which will only serve to make this trip even more stressful.

Daphne catches her gaze and her grin just broadens as she heads to the back of the car, using the keys to open the trunk.

Sabrina is taking a step towards the car when it hits her. The jalopy is here. So is Daphne. Daphne, who's only sixteen. Daphne, who's never passed her driving lessons. Daphne, driving the same car Granny refused to get updated with the new auto-pilot extension the agency put in all the other cars.

"You drove here?" Her voice rises to a squeak.

Daphne looks at her in surprise before shrugging as if a sixteen-year-old driving from who knows where to New York isn't that big of a deal. "Yep," she says, popping the p.

"But you never passed a driving lesson."

Daphne looks affronted. "Granny gave me private lessons as part of my training."

"Oh, that's even worse." Sabrina moans into her hands. Her grandmother is only good at driving when they're trying to get away from some big and nasty. "It's a miracle you managed to get this far without an accident." She pauses and narrows her eyes at her sister. "Nothing did happen, right?"

"Well, there may have been an incident with a cow and an old lady, but nothing big." Daphne waves her hand vaguely in the air. "But I drive just fine. You'll see."

A mock laugh bursts past Sabrina's lips as she grabs Daphne's shoulder before the girl can head towards the driver's side of the car. "No, I don't think so. I kinda want to live through this weekend, so I'm gonna drive."

"But you don't know where to go," Daphne argues.

"You can tell me." Sabrina holds out her hand, palm up, and raises an eyebrow at her sister. "Keys. Now."

With a scowl, Daphne reluctantly hands over the keys and heads to the passenger side of the car. "Fine. But I can drive. I made it all the way here just fine."

"I'm sure the cow and old lady would beg to differ." Sabrina snorts, walking around to the other side of the car. She slips into the driver's seat, carefully making sure to avoid any of the oddly placed buttons that could detonate a bomb, secures her seatbelt, and sticks the keys into the ignition. She takes a deep breath, trying to prepare herself for the racket to come, and turns the key.

The engine purrs. There's not a single pop, crack, bang, or the other familiar noises that can only be described as blood curdling screams. She frowns down at the steering wheel before turning her attention to Daphne. The girl is messing with the cassette tapes, trying to pick one out to listen to. "What happened?"

Daphne glances up, her brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Sabrina gestures to the entire car. "What happened to all the noise? All the bangs and rattles and . . noise?"

Daphne quickly turns her attention back to the cassette tapes, a light blush staining her cheeks. "Mr. Canis found a mechanic to fix the car a while back." She mumbles the words so fast Sabrina can hardly understand her.

Sabrina frowns at her sister before shaking her head. "Must have been one good mechanic," she mutters dubiously. "Now, are you going to tell me where we're going?"

Daphne nods her head and slips a tape into the player. A few seconds pass before an all too familiar song fills the car.

Sabrina leans her head back against the seat and groans as Daphne turns to face her, the theme for Mission Impossible fueling the younger girl's sense of theatrics. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it-"

"No," Sabrina says, quickly pressing the button to eject the tape. "None of that nonsense."

Daphne lets out a heavy sigh as Sabrina pulls out onto the road and reaches forward to pull a map out of the glove compartment. But even out of the corner of her eye, Sabrina can see the small smile on the younger girl's face.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** : I was in a bit of a rush to get this finished before I left town for a few days (since I don't know if I'll have time to write or access to the Internet), so sorry if it's not up to par. This is also a bit of a transitional chapter- but hey, there needs to be some calm before the Grimms meet Puck.

Also, for those of you who might not know, there's a celebration going on for the 10th year anniversary of the Sisters Grimm! You can check out Lara D's profile for more information on the many awesome prompts that you can participate in. There's also a tumblr set up at sg10thanniverse, and I think there are places where you can participate on deviantart and wattpad as well. Please participate if you can, and I hope to see some of the awesome stuff you create! I'm hoping to be able to participate as soon as I have time.

Thanks again to everyone who commented and fav'd this story!

By the way, Chesterville is a fictional town. Any similarities to any real town is by accident.

* * *

 _They survived._

 _Through the days that turned into weeks and months and years. Through the horrible orphanage food, hard cots, mean-spirited children, and the caseworker with the hooked nose, distasteful sneer, and the name that made everyone's lips curl around the pronunciation: Ms. Smirt. She made it her life's goal to throw them towards any horrible lowlife who managed to get an approval on their paperwork, and even some that didn't. As time went on, Sabrina learned how to tell when they were headed to a bad one. Mr. Smirt would get a haughty glint in her eyes, her chin lifted proudly, eyebrows arched, and lips curled to one side. It was rather revolting._

 _But they survived each one she threw at them._

 _Sabrina always met the so-called "parents" with a snarl and a kick, escape routes and distraction plans forming in her mind before Ms. Smirt even left the home, before their new guardians' smiling masks cracked to show the truth underneath. Being chained to a boiler, treated as pack mules, drug carriers, beggars on the side of the street to get more money; none of it stopped her. She scratched and clawed with a hot ferocity through whatever they could throw her way, always running towards freedom with Daphne's hand clutched in hers. Nothing they did could break her._

 _The others were the ones who did the most damage._

 _The ones who were different in every way from the adults bent on using her and Daphne to their own advantage. Who would open the door and welcome them with warm smiles that sent a pang of longing stabbing through her. They would feed the girls well, give them comfortable rooms, take them to the movies and the park, pat them on the head, and give them hugs. Little signs that reminded Sabrina of what she once had with her parents. Moments of comfort and love that made her think they had finally made it. Somewhere they would finally be safe._

 _Moments Sabrina mistook for affection._

 _And then Ms. Smirt would show up at the door and Sabrina and Daphne would be ushered out of the house while the adults met their questioning gazes with apologetic smiles and worthless excuses. Not enough money. . .not a good fit. . . just not what we were hoping for._

 _They were the ones who left wounds crisscrossing all over her. Wounds that healed into hard scars, leaving a thick shell of distrust that hardened with each passing day. She learned that every smile, every kind act, was just a way for someone to hide their true intention. Daphne was the only one she could ever trust. No one cared about her or her sister and no one would._

 _Over the months, her armor continued to grow so thick that all she felt was suspicion the day Ms. Smirt came to them, a scowl chiseled deeply on her face, and told them their grandmother had been found._

. . .

Cows. There are cows everywhere.

Cows, flocks of chickens sauntering across the road (an act that leads to fifteen minutes of Daphne telling Sabrina every single "why did the chicken cross the road" joke she can remember), and a pack of what Sabrina is positive are llamas.

It's strange, she's been sent on plenty of missions to small country towns and yet the sensation of so much open space around her has never failed to unnerve her. She can't help the tingle that races across her skin, or the way she grips the steering wheel a little tighter. There's the sense that there has to be something out there in that wide space, something not too friendly hiding in the ridiculous amount of cornfields. Granted, it probably has something to do with the fact that the majority of their more gruesome cases took place in the country.

The open space also gives her too much time to think, and that's the last thing she wants to do. She doesn't want to think about Bradley or Annabelle or her grandmother, about the possibility of losing yet another family member. She doesn't want to think about Mr. Canis and what he may or may not have already done-

Sabrina jerks herself away from that particular train of thought and glances out the corner of her eye at Daphne. The younger girl stares out the window, one hand propping up her head. Sabrina doesn't need to get a good look to know that boredom is written all over Daphne's face, which means it's only a matter of time before-

Daphne suddenly sits up straighter and whips her head around to Sabrina. Her brown eyes widen with excitement and the desperate need for entertainment that comes with sitting in a car for six hours. "Oh! Have you heard the ones about the cows?"

Sabrina winces. " _Ones?_ There's more than one?"

"Oh yeah! There's a ton of 'em!" Daphne exclaims, twisting her whole body around in the seat to where she's facing Sabrina, one leg tucked underneath her. "Ummmm. . . ." Her face scrunches up in thought, her nose crinkling. "Oh! What do you call a cow-"

"You know what?" Sabrina quickly interrupts her and tries to keep the desperation out of her voic, though it still comes out a little strained and a little high pitched. "Why don't we talk about the case instead? So we'll be better prepared?"

Daphne deflates, shoulders stooping, before leaning back against the door. "Okay."

Sabrina just stops a sigh of relief from escaping her lips. Hunting down an entire army of giants sounds more enjoyable than hearing more cheesy jokes. "So. . .how much do you know about the case Granny was going to investigate?" She forces herself to ask casually even though curiosity burns through her. She's still not sure Daphne's told her the whole truth back at the apartment.

Daphne shrugs, her hands moving to her hair to busy her fingers with braiding random pieces of the dark strands. "Not much more than what I've told you. The agency was alerted when some guy's farmhouse was smashed. The poor guy almost didn't make it out of the house. The real kicker is that he swears he saw a giant foot smash his house."

Sabrina's eyes widen, and she risks sending Daphne a quick, startled look. "So there's an eyewitness?"

Daphne's face twists in indecision. "Possibly. The lead investigator reported that the witness was in the hospital and hooked up on some extreme painkillers, so he doubts the man was telling the truth."

"Did they wipe his mind?" She tries to keep the hope out of her voice. It's standard protocol to wipe the minds of any civilian who notices a supernatural occurrence, but if the agency decided they didn't need to wipe his mind, then they might actually have someone who can tell them what happened that night.

"I don't think so." Daphne examines a bulky and lopsided braid, a frown on her face, before undoing it. "We should be able to tell when we interview him though."

Sabrina nods her head, biting into her lower lip as she thinks. "Who was the lead on the case?" She asks, the wheels in her brain turning. If it's someone who's close to Granny, they might be willing to help the girls out should the need arise. They might even be willing to do it discretely, and they can avoid the backlash this case promises to come with.

Daphne cringes, glancing at Sabrina from underneath her now messy hair. "Tobias."

"You have got to be kidding me?!" Sabrina groans in frustration, slamming her head back against the headrest. All hope of having the lead investigator on their side disappears. Tobias, the skinny little punk adorned in tattoos and piercings, with a large case of narcissism and far too much enjoyment in killing and fighting, who butted heads with Granny ever single time they interacted. He will be the last person willing to help them.

"He was apparently adamant about there not being a case."

"Ugh!" Sabrina throws up her hands in exasperation, an act that leads to the near death of a particularly brave chicken, before gripping the wheel again, so tight her hands hurt. "That sounds just like him. If there's no chance of violence and killing, the guy doesn't want to bother with it. You know, I bet he didn't even process the scene of the witness correctly. That's probably why Granny took the case, she knew he wouldn't do it right." She huffs angrily, the breath pushing against a few strands of hair that fell in her face during her rant. "I still don't understand why the agency still has him."

Daphne blinks at her, shoulders lifting in a helpless shrug. "Because he's good at what he does?"

Sabrina just shakes her head angrily. "What about the beanstalk?" She growls.

"Huh?"

"Shouldn't there have been a beanstalk for the giant to come down? Surely that would have been noticeable?"

"Yeah, but there hasn't been a sign of one," Daphne says. She frowns down at her hands, twisting them in her lap. "I think that's why Granny was so interested, you know?" Her voice comes out soft and low. She looks up from her hands and smiles at Sabrina, a movement of her lips that doesn't hide the worry in her eyes. "Granny can never ignore something that appears to be completely unexplainable."

"Yeah," Sabrina whispers, all the anger from before draining from her, though doubt still twists inside of her. There's still no reason for Granny to go behind the agency's back. With her rank, she could have reopened the case and investigated it while using all of the agency's resources. There had to be some other explanation. But what could she have been investigating that was so important she couldn't trust anyone at the agency? And was this unknown factor the reason for her disappearance?

Silence falls between them as worry thickens the air. Sabrina's hands tighten on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white. They will find Granny. _They will._

She swallows hard and grasps at a topic to get their minds off the thought, running her tongue over her dry lips before speaking. "So, what do we know about giants?" She was never interested in giants, tuning her tutor out the moment she mentioned that they were extinct because Sabrina would rather spend her time studying creatures that were alive and could kill her. Daphne, however, devoured any classes covering magical creatures, both alive and extinct.

Daphne turns around in the seat and leans her head back against the headrest, eyes closed and a frown on her face as she thinks. "Well, they're tall-"

Sabrina rolls her eyes, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "No, really?"

"Shut up." A playful grin tugs at the corner of Daphne's lips before the concentrated frown returns. "I think I remember the teacher saying they're extremely smelly." Her nose scrunches up in disgust. "And that anything they touch gets the same nasty smell for weeks."

Sabrina lets out a heavy sigh, sinking miserably closer to the steering wheel. "Great. I love working with hygienically challenged creatures." She frowns out at the road. "How dangerous are they and do they have any weaknesses?"

"From what I can remember they're just like humans, except bigger. They don't have any magical powers or anything like that. So all we need are some really big weapons and we'll be fine . . .I think."

"Really? Those should be easy to get." She glances over at Daphne, a quip on the edge of her lips, but stops when she sees the look on Daphne's face. Her face is white, lips pressed into a thin line.

"What is it?" Sabrina asks.

"I read once that . . ." Daphne takes a deep breath that shudders when she exhales. "That, uh, giants were known for being rather violent towards other people, both magical and non-magical. And that they usually crushed people underfoot but if . . .if someone was captured alive, they would devour his flesh and grind his bones into paste. Or tear him apart limb by limb."

A heavy silence falls between them and Sabrina has to remind herself to breathe, though the air doesn't seem to want to flow into her lungs. It's only broken when Elvis barks from the backseat, a sharp sound that causes both of the girls to jump.

Daphne quickly turns in her seat to pat Elvis on the head, sending Sabrina a grin that's too stretched and thin to be genuine. "Well, at least all the giants are extinct, so we don't have to worry about that?" Her voice is a pitch too high, a hair too light, and ends as if she's asking a question.

Sabrina nods her head and tries to move her lips into a smile. The result is more like a wince than a grin. "Yeah, they're all dead." She finds herself grasping onto that hope and trying to ignore the mental image of her grandmother being torn apart by giants.

. . .

The town of Chesterville looks exactly like the majority of small country towns Sabrina has been to in her life. There's a single main street filled with so many potholes she's surprised the old jalopy doesn't break in two. It's the only street that appears to be paved, however poorly, flanked on both sides by a few independently owned shops; tiny brick buildings with glass windows crowded with homemade items and decorations. There's a single gas station, a sheriff's office, and one bed and breakfast.

"This place is kinda cute. It looks like it's straight out of a fairytale," Daphne says. She presses her face against the passenger-side window, her breath fogging up the glass as she takes in the few sights the town has to offer. "It reminds me of Ferryport Landing."

"Yeah, the perfect place for some psycho to kill to his heart's content," Sabrina grumbles, pulling into one of the side-roads that leads to the only motel in the town. A woman walking down the sidewalk turns around and smiles as the jalopy passes, lifting a hand in a friendly wave. Sabrina glares back at her. "That's just creepy," she mutters. No one in NYC waves at random strangers with that much enthusiasm.

The seat squeaks as Daphne peels herself off the window and grins widely at her. "I know! It's great!"

"Oh, yeah," Sabrina drawls, pulling into the parking lot of the motel. "A possible bloodthirsty monster running around smashing people's homes is just fantastic."

Daphne rolls her eyes. "That's not what I meant." The grin twitches back into place and she punches Sabrina lightly on the arm. "I meant this." She gestures in a way that takes in everything; the car, Elvis, the two of them. "Us being back together again, working a case, being a team, just like old times, you know, when Granny was training us. You can't tell me you haven't missed this."

Sabrina opens her mouth, a retort ready to fly from her lips, but something in Daphne's expression pulls her short. Under the smile and the crinkled eyes lurks something serious, cold, and brittle. Something that promises to crack at one wrong word. Sabrina hesitates for just a second before shaking her head and forcing out a snort as she opens the door. "C'mon, you little werido."

Daphne twists around in her seat and gives Elvis a pat on the head. "We'll be right back, buddy."

The too fresh scent of dirt, cut grass, hay and country hits Sabrina in the face, causing her nose to crinkle. The absolute lack of the familiar scent of petrol, and the greasy foods the vendors on the side of the streets decide to make, making her stomach turn. People may say country air is healthier to breathe, but she'll take the smell of a city any day.

She wipes at her nose, as if to get the smell out of her nostrils, and frowns at the building. The motel is small and dingy, with the creative title of Chesterville Motel. The vacancy sign misses a few letters and what looks like a poor attempt at graffiti dots one of the off white walls. There are only two cars in the parking lot, a shady looking white van and a small red car.

Sabrina turns to Daphne, a question already on her lips, but from the way her sister stares intently at the car, Sabrina already knows the answer. "I'm guessing that's Granny's rental?"

It takes a second for Daphne to respond. She licks her lips and nods her head, a quick, sharp movement. "Yeah, maybe that means she's still in town." A thin enthusiasm covers her words. Her gaze slides away from the car and she heads purposefully towards the motel office.

Sabrina gives the car one last look, her blue eyes searching for any signs of an attack or abduction, but besides a thick layer of dirt, the car looks clean. She feels a knot twist unexpectedly in the pit of her stomach as she follows Daphne. The car being here means it's likely Granny's still in town. But if she's still here and not answering her phone that might mean. . .

She presses her lips together, her fingers curling into fists so tight her fingernails dig into the palms of her hands. The pain is sharp, just enough for her to latch onto. There are plenty of reasons why Granny might not answer her phone. Plenty of reasons that don't involve her grandmother being dead.

The two sisters step inside the small motel office and the thick scent of cigarette smoke clogs the once fresh air. The older man behind the reception table lifts his head from the magazine he's reading when the two step in and regards them with indifferent brown eyes. His face is all sharp points and edges, and he lifts himself off the chair with the weight of one who leads a monotonous life.

"What can I get you?" He speaks in a deep, southern drawl, each word drawn out and slowly released into the air.

"We'd like a room, please." Daphne matches the man's slow voice and a grin tugs at the corner of her lips. Sabrina elbows her in the side before the younger girl can throw in a _partner_ for good measure.

The man eyes Daphne expressionlessly and he takes so long to blink that Sabrina has to fight off the urge to scream. "ID, please."

Daphne and Sabrina fish out their fake IDs (Barbara and Sandra Merriweather- the ones Granny gave them to use in case of emergencies) and hold them out for the man to (painfully slowly) look at them. He nods his head and makes a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat before turning to where the keys hang on a board behind the desk.

"She said you might show up," he says, placing two keys on the counter. "She's in room 118." He taps one key before turning to the other. "And the tall feller's in the room next to her. Just make sure you lock up before ya leave. Some hooligan tried to break it, but the handyman stopped 'em. Just know we're not responsible for any stolen belongin's." After giving them his practiced spiel, he sits back down in his seat and continues to read his magazine, once again oblivious to their existence.

Sabrina and Daphne exchange quick looks before Sabrina grabs the keys, a frown on her face. So Granny prepared in case they showed up, which could mean several things. It could be normal procedure for her; she always was one to have a backup plan. Or she could have felt she was in trouble. And then there was the case of someone trying to break into her room. Which could be worrying, or it could just be a drunk person mistaking her room for theirs.

It doesn't take them long to find her room. Sabrina can't help but study the door, looking for any signs of forced entry. A dirty footprint, a broken doorknob, but the door looks normal. She slides the key into the lock and pushes the door open slowly, images of a blood covered room flashing unbidden through her mind. Instead, what greets her is a room that's so Granny Relda she exhales a sigh of relief.

It looks like a tornado's blown through it. There are papers strewn about the room. Books and weapons stacked haphazardly on the bed and floor, vying for space with the papers on the neon green carpet. Granny turned one of the walls into her personal tack board, covering the dirty wallpaper with pieces of paper and newspaper articles covered in sticky notes.

Sabrina gazes around the room, comfort wrapping around her at the sight of the familiar mess. Every room Granny stays in for more than a few hours always ends up messy. She defends herself by saying she thinks better when there are papers and books all around her since it makes her feel more at home and less like she's stuck doing work. Though, usually she puts a glamor on the room before she leaves to make sure that anyone who enters will see a clean room. That the glamor is gone just means it's been a while since Granny has been here.

The comfort she felt moments ago disappears, leaving behind it a cold feeling that wraps around her lungs. She slips out of the door while Daphne looks around the room, and heads to the room right next to Granny's; which no doubt has to belong to Mr. Canis. She slips the key into the lock and pushes the door open, holding her breath. What greets her is a room typical of Mr. Canis, so stark clean and organized that it looks like no one has lived in there.

With a sigh, she closes the door and heads back into Granny's room, waving at a very dejected looking Elvis when the dog pokes his head out of the jalopy's window. Daphne's staring at the collage when Sabrina enters, brow furrowed. The younger girl runs her fingers over the pictures and articles, her lips moving as she reads.

"Anything useful over there?" Sabrina asks as she shuts the door behind her.

Daphne shrugs, not tearing her gaze from the mishmash on the wall. "I can't really tell. She has the newspaper article detailing the destruction of the man's house, a few pictures and. . ." She reaches out a hand and detaches a piece of paper from the wall. "And something to do with magic beans."

Sabrina navigates her way through the maze of books and papers to stand beside Daphne, gazing over her shoulder at the piece of paper. "Makes sense. The only way for giants to get down here is with the use of a magic bean."

A line appears between her eyebrows as Daphne frowns at the paper. "Says here the agency has all the magic beans."

"And that's another point to the whole 'it can't possibly be giants' theory," Sabrina says.

"I know and it seems so obvious." Daphne sticks the paper back onto the wall, frustration peppering her words. "But if it is this obvious-"

"Then why would Granny risk her entire career to solve it?" Sabrina finishes the sentence for her, glaring around at the messy room as if it was the cause of all her problems. Frustration makes her clench her jaw. None of this makes any sense. Granny took her job seriously. Why would she risk throwing it all away for this?

The sound of her phone ringing cuts through her thoughts and causes both of them to jump. Sabrina pulls the phone out of her pocket, her heart jumping in her chest. The thought that it might be Bradley makes panic and indecision curl into a ball in the middle of her throat- what is she supposed to tell him?- until she glances at the screen. It's an unknown number.

Daphne peeks over her shoulder at the screen before making an excited noise. "Oh, that must be the Hare!" She grabs for the phone and groans when Sabrina jerks it out of her reach. "Put in on speaker!"

Sabrina rolls her eyes as she hits the button. "Hey, _Wendell_." She speaks quickly before Daphne can say anything. "It's Sabrina."

Daphne gives her a look and Sabrina rolls her eyes at her in exasperation. "I'm not calling him The Hare."

"Oh, I don't mind." The voice on the other end of the phone sounds exactly the same as she remembers. Young and weighed down with the stuffiness of someone always on the verge of a cold.

"Well, I do. It's ridiculous," Sabrina says. Daphne sticks her tongue out at Sabrina and Sabrina answers by making a face. "What have you got?"

"Your grandmother enlisted herself on a mission to check out a possible disturbance in a small country town last week and we lost all communication with her Wednesday."

Sabrina chews on her bottom lip. "And no one at the agency has noticed her disappearance?"

There's a long pause on the other end before Wendell speaks, slow and careful. "Well, you see, I kinda maybe sorta made it seem like she was going off the investigate a different disturbance on the other side of the country, so everyone thinks she's over there. Kiiinda like they think Daphne's over there too."

Sabrina paces back and forth on the only part of the floor that's clean. Daphne starts to follow her, walking so close behind her that she almost steps on her heels. "Any idea why she didn't want anyone else to know about the giant possibility?" Sabrina asks.

There's another pause- just long enough to send little bells of alarm ringing in her head- before Wendell says, "Not a clue. But the thing is. . ."

"Yes?" Sabrina presses, frowning when the sound of barking reaches her ears. It sounds like Elvis is getting restless.

"About a month ago- and please don't tell her I told you this- but Relda came into contact with an asset."

Daphne and Sabrina share confused looks before Daphne says, "And? Granny meets up with assets all the time."

"Is that Daphne? Am I on speaker?"

"Yes," Sabrina says exasperatedly, spinning around so fast she almost crashes into a surprised Daphne. "What's so different about this asset?"

Wendell coughs nervously before speaking and Sabrina rolls her eyes when his voice comes out lower than before. From the smile that crosses Daphne's face, Wendell's switch to his "manly man" voice hasn't gone unnoticed by her. "Well, she made me swear to keep this asset a secret. And as far as I can tell, she hasn't told anyone else at the agency."

Sabrina runs her hands through her hair, barely holding back a groan of frustration. With how her grandmother has apparently been acting, she wouldn't be surprised if it turns out her grandmother is possessed by some alien. "And why the hell wouldn't she do that?"

". . .you'll understand if he's still there. From what I've heard, he's not exactly discrete. But you see, Relda was going to see that asset in town."

Sabrina feels a pit of dread settle in her stomach, and from the way Daphne's lips press together, the other girl feels it too. "Do you know the particular day she was planning on meeting this asset?"

Sabrina can practically see Wendell's wince. "Wednesday."

Sabrina leans a hand against the wall, using the feel of the hard surface under her palm to anchor herself against the wave of anger and fear crashing through her. "Wendell, is there any way this asset could have played a part in Granny's disappearance? Is this person dangerous?"

Wendell hm's and hah's on the other side of the phone for a few seconds. "I don- maybe, I mean, it might be a possibility, but I don't really think-" Wendell takes a deep breath and releases it in a sigh that sounds like static over the phone. "I can't tell you for sure. He might be but he might not be. But Relda did call him a nice young man."

Sabrina barely stops a sigh, pushing off the wall to run a hand over her face. She's pretty sure Granny calls every man she meets a 'nice young man'. "Thanks, Wendell. That's very helpful. Really."

"Can you send a picture of this person?" Daphne asks, moving to plop down on the bed, an act that almost sends an entire stack of books toppling to the floor. "Maybe even tell us a name?"

"I'll send you a picture as soon as I can. As for his name, he either goes by Robin or Puck, though I guess he could go by any other name."

"Great. Do you happen to know where they were supposed to meet up?" Sabrina asks. Hopefully, the asset will still show up there. And if not, maybe someone in the vicinity will remember him and point them in the right direction.

"Uhhh, hold on." She can faintly hear the rapid click of computer keys on the other side of the phone. "It's at some bar called The Golden Egg. The place shouldn't be that hard to find. It looks like it's one of the only bars in town."

"Sounds like a great place. Thanks, Wendell," Sabrina says, raising her voice over the barking as it intensifies. She looks at Daphne and nods her head at the door. "You might want to get Elvis out of the car before he catches someone's attention."

Daphne pushes herself off the bed and quickly heads out the door to release Elvis from his prison before the motel owner can get suspicious. Sabrina leans her back against the wall and pinches the bridge of her nose, trying to will her brain to think faster, to untangle the mess in front of her.

"Uh, Sabrina?" Wendell's hesitant voice breaks through her thoughts.

"Yeah?" She drops her hand back to her side, wariness curling inside her at the nervousness in Wendell's voice. She will not, no matter how long they've been friends, tell Daphne that he loves her for him. That's where she draws the line.

He suddenly starts speaking all at once, the words coming out so fast it's hard for her to piece together what he's saying. "I know this is going to sound really weird but if either of you happen to see any rats or bunnies or other animals acting . . . out of the ordinary, will you please let me know?"

Sabrina stands still, her mouth hanging open, positive that this must be some kind of prank. But when all he hears is silence Wendell says, "Please?" and there's so much desperation and hope behind his voice that all thoughts of this being a joke flee from her mind.

"Uh, sure, Wendell."

Daphne enters with an excited Elvis in tow as Wendell gushes his thanks. Daphne glances at Sabrina with a raised eyebrow, trying to unsuccessfully to stop Elvis from knocking everything over in his excitement, but Sabrina just shrugs.

"Really, Wendell, it's nothing," she says. "And thanks for helping us out."

"No problem. And, Sabrina? Daphne? Be careful. And let me know if you need any help, 'kay?"

"Will do," she says before hanging up. She stares down at the phone for a few minutes before shaking her head, his odd request running in circles around her mind. "I leave for two years and everyone goes crazy," she mutters.

"What?" Daphne asks, giggling as Elvis covers her in licks.

"I said, everyone's gone crazy. Oh, and we're supposed to be keeping an eye out for weird animals." She tosses Daphne the phone as Elvis turns his attention to her, almost bowling her over as he covers her in grateful dog kisses. "And it's amazing that he still wonders why he never gets accepted into the covert ops division," she says, leaning her head back to prevent Elvis from covering her face in goo. "With wishy-washy answers like that, it's a wonder he was even accepted into the RND department."

"Aw, c'mon, he's trying his best," Daphne says and flops onto the bed, sending the of books toppling to the floor. She stares at the phone in her hand. "And at least he's good at what he does."

"That's true." Sabrina gives Elvis a few more pats before the dog decides to investigate his new living space, creating an even bigger mess as he unsuccessfully tries to maneuver his large body around the stacks of books. "But he's hiding something, I can feel it. He's holding back some information from us."

"Maybe we don't need to know everything," Daphne says, flipping over onto her stomach. She places the phone on the bed in front of her, staring at it in deep concentration as if she can will the picture of the asset to appear.

"But it would certainly help."

"Oh."

Sabrina glances up at the gasp to see Daphne staring transfixed at the phone, one hand covering her open mouth. "What is it?" She asks, already moving over to the bed.

Daphne just holds up the phone for Sabrina to see, her eyes wide. On the screen is a picture of a young man sitting at what appears to be a bar. In the dim lighting, she can make out a scruffy looking hoodie, green eyes, a smirk, a mop of messy blonde hair and-

Sabrina's face scrunches up in confusion. "Is that a . . .paper crown on his head?"

Daphne brings the phone closer to her face, an amused expression taking place of her earlier shock. "Sure looks like it!"

Sabrina groans, burying her face in her hands. "Great. So far out only hope for finding our grandmother is someone who wears a paper crown from a kids meal." She lets her hands fall to her side as she leans her head back to stare at the ceiling. "Fantastic."

Daphne shrugs, a grin widening on her face. The younger girl's shoulders shake with suppressed laughter. "At least it shouldn't be too hard to find him."

Sabrina takes one last look at the picture, a scowl forming on her face. "Oh, I can't wait."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** So that update once every other week thing died pretty quick. Sorry 'bout that. But, in the meantime, I graduated college! So it's not like I wasn't doing anything. Plus, the interaction between the girls and Puck was giving me some problems. Still not sure I like the way it turned out, but it'll have to do.

I am going to aim for once a month updates. I'll try to update more than that, but since my schedule is up in the air at the moment, I can't make any promises.

Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed/favorited/followed/stuck with this story!

. . .

 _She looked like she had walked straight off the pages of some fairytale. A long blue dress reached the modest length of her ankles and a matching hat perched on her head, a fake sunflower attached to the side. Winkles lined her face, blue eyes crinkled at the edges when she smiled- something she did a lot-, and a wide streak of red hair stood out amongst the gray. She was the spitting image of the cookie cutter grandmother Sabrina used to dream about when she was younger. It was unsettling. The stranger smiled at them like she had known them her whole life, her arms immediately opening to envelop the girls in hugs. As if she already cared about them._

 _She was the long lost relative that appeared from nowhere to save the poor orphaned children from the horrible orphanage. Sabrina half expected the woman to spout off nonsense and tell them they were actually part of some royal family and it was time to take their rightful place on the throne._

 _If the old woman was some version of a knight in shining armor, the skeleton of a man beside her was the monster. Thin and dressed in a gray suit that seemed to hang from him, shocking blue eyes that stood out underneath bushy eyebrows, and a head full of gray hair that couldn_ _'_ _t seem to lie flat; he was the definition of creepy old guy. He stared at Sabrina long enough to send a tingle down her spine, and she could have sworn he never once blinked. She made a mental note to avoid him at all costs._

 _Daphne, however, ate it all up. The little girl leaned forward on her tiptoes the moment the woman released them from her death hug as if some force pulled her towards the impostor. Her brown eyes widened with a hope that twisted Sabrina_ _'_ _s stomach because hope was only meant to be crushed. The fact that the woman was just going to end up hurting Daphne made Sabrina hate her even more._

 _"_ _Hello,_ lieblings. _"_ _The woman had tears in her eyes. Actual tears as her voice wobbled with unrestrained emotion. Sabrina thought she was going to puke. "I'm your_ oma _._ _"_

 _Daphne eagerly asked the woman what she meant, what language she was talking in, and then everything she wanted to know about Germany and about their grandmother as the woman led them to what could only loosely be described as a car. Sabrina tuned their voices out, already focusing on potential escape routes, and trying to memorize roads but when she looked up her eyes met the gaze of the creepy old guy. She could have sworn she saw his head shake slightly, lips turned down at the edges, as if he knew what she was planning. She ignored the way her stomach flopped unpleasantly and narrowed her eyes in a glare, twisting her lips into a scowl._

 _The man didn_ _'_ _t seem intimidated._

 _As she and her sister slipped into the backseat of the deathtrap on wheels, as they drove through the sleepy town of Ferryport Landing, as their_ _'_ _grandmother' droned on about showing them the family business, Sabrina began to understand her father's hatred for fairytales._

* * *

They spend what little time is left in the afternoon sifting through the mess that litters Granny's room. Painstakingly going through each book, each scrap of paper in search of some kind of clue as to what Granny was doing here. From what Sabrina can tell, most of it looks like a bunch of articles on giants; pieces of information concerning the Agency's attack on the creatures years ago, and detailed accounts of interactions with giants before their termination.

It's slow and aggravating work that sends irritation tingling up and down Sabrina's arms. Impatient energy buzzes through her. She needs to _do_ something, not be trapped in a room all day organizing papers and books and reading through information she already knows. She needs to head outside, hunt down this asset, find her grandmother, and beat the living daylights out of whoever- or _whatever_ \- took her grandmother.

She lets out an angry huff, the breath pushing against a strand of hair that fell in her face, and reaches for another stack of paper. Out of the corner of her eye, she can just make out the small smile on Daphne's face. The younger girl doesn't seem to be terribly affected by being cooped up inside. Instead, she pours over every bit of information on giants with a kind of intense concentration that borders on unsettling. Occasionally, she'll pull herself away from the research to question if the Agency's positive all the giants were exterminated as if the answer will miraculously change in the course of five minutes.

"Hopefully, they would be able to tell if there were giants still roaming around," Sabrina mutters, a bit of her impatience seeping into her voice, though Daphne still doesn't look convinced.

Sabrina spies a notepad hiding underneath the tacky orange bedspread and pulls it towards her. Granny's almost unintelligible scrawl covers the yellow paper, creating a mesh of numbers and names, some of which are scratched out. Her brow furrows in confusion as her eyes scan the words before landing on something familiar. "Daphne?"

An uninterested grunt answers her.

"Do you remember that time we ran away from the crazy tin-foil hat man? And when we were caught they sent us to that one orphanage to wait until Ms. Smirt came to get us? That place that smelled like musty old feet?"

Daphne glances up from the paper clutched in her hand, her scrunching her nose at the unpleasant memory. "St. Agnes's? Why?"

Sabrina holds out the notebook for Daphne to see. "Why would Granny need the number to St. Agnes's?"

Daphne's disgusted look morphs into a confused frown. She reaches out, the paper she poured over forgotten in her lap and grabs the notebook. Her brown eyes flicker over the page, her frown deepening with each second. "I have no clue." She glances up. "And what are all these other numbers? Are they for orphanages too?"

Sabrina's shoulders lift in a shrug. "I don't know," she says, reaching out and taking the notepad back. "But why would she even need any of these?"

"And what would it have to do with giants, anyway?" Daphne asks.

Sabrina just shakes her head in confusion as she reads through the notebook again as if maybe this time some clue will make its presence known. When a minute has passed and the notepad is just as confusing as before, she lets it drop from her fingers to the floor. She lifts her hands and rubs her temples, trying to alleviate the headache pounding relentlessly in her head. "None of this makes any sense," she groans.

"I'm sure Granny will have a good explanation," Daphne says, though her usual confidence sounds fake. "She'll know how this all connects."

Sabrina frowns down at the books they still have to work through, struggling to ignore the nagging suspicion curling in her stomach. Who knows if Granny will even want to connect the dots for them? She seemed fine keeping the fact that Mr. Canis was the Big Bad Wolf a secret. What else could she have been hiding from them?

She presses her lips into a thin line and reaches for another book. "Let's hope so," she mutters.

* * *

Just as Wendell predicted, it doesn't take them long to find the bar. The Golden Egg: Bar and Grille is tucked at the end of Main Street and big enough to take up the block. A sign, the once bright yellow paint faded and chipped, announces that it's home to the greatest burgers and fries in the world, though the acrid odor seeping from the building contradicts that claim. Light just manages to force its way through the grimy windows and onto the street, giving the whole block a gloomy atmosphere, especially when the street lamp outside keeps flickering.

Sabrina stares dubiously at the sign, taking in a whiff of what smells like burnt beef wafting from the front doors. The sound of drunken laughter and off-key singing seep out from inside the building. She glances back down at the picture on her phone for what feels like the fiftieth time that day, nose crinkling in disgust. "Are you sure we should do this? He looks like a little kid with that crown on his head. He probably won't be any help at all."

"Looks can be deceiving," Daphne says brightly, not slowing her pace as she makes a beeline for the doors. She stops with her hand pressed against the wood and glances back at Sabrina, who's still standing by the curb. "So far he's the only one we know who might have talked to Granny before she went missing. And anyway, I'm starving and really want to eat."

"Oh! So that's why you were so adamant that we came here as soon as possible." Sabrina shakes her head, a teasing smile on her lips, as she tucks the phone in her pocket and walks to the door. "And here I was thinking you were becoming a serious investigator."

"I _am_ taking this seriously and because of that I know I won't be able to think straight or react quickly enough on an empty stomach. So I'm technically helping the team out." Daphne grins widely at her.

"Oh, how noble of you to make that sacrifice." Sabrina snorts as the younger girl pushes the door open.

The place _stinks_. A foul odor that slaps her in the face the moment she steps in the door, stopping her in her tracks. She grunts, face twisting in disgust and brings a hand up in front of her nose and mouth to try and block some of the smell. "Maybe it's not a good idea to eat in here," she mumbles, trying not to breathe too deeply.

For a second, she thinks Daphne might agree with her before the girl shakes her head. "No, I'm too hungry."

"Fine, it's your funeral," Sabrina grumbles. "Just don't expect me to carry your body out of this place."

Daphne laughs. "Oh thanks, so glad I can count on you."

Sabrina grunts in reply, blue eyes scanning the bar. The dim lighting covers the room in shadows, making it look as dirty as it is smelly. Groups of people are scattered out in the tables that cover the main floor, none of whom show any interest in the two girls. The drunken rumble of conversations barely masks the staticky sound of music coming from the speakers overhead. Her eyes move to the bar that takes up the side of the room and there he is, sitting in the middle and popping what looks like peanuts into his mouth.

And he's still wearing the crown.

With a scowl etched on her face, Sabrina taps Daphne on the shoulder and nods her head towards the bar where the "asset" chats away with a bored-looking bartender. The corner of Daphne's lips quirk into a smile when she spots the boy and starts to walk over to him. Sabrina follows close behind, trying to avoid stepping in any of the many sticky spots covering the worn wooden floors. Her lips curl in disgust. Honestly, it's amazing this place hasn't been shut down.

The boy's voice lifts over the other conversations as they make it to the bar. He's talking about something to do with dumping a few "unsuspecting victims" into a pool. He giggles manically as he recalls the shocked looks on their faces, popping a few more peanuts into his already full mouth. The bartender glances up when Daphne leans against the bar, her indifferent eyes taking them both in before she glances back down at the cup she's been steadily cleaning with a dirty rag.

The boy doesn't look at them, too busy moving the empty peanut shells into an intricate shape on the chipped bar. "They were so upset," he says around a mouthful of peanuts. "They came popping out of the water all soaking wet and spluttering and I told them-"

Sabrina coughs loudly, cutting off the no doubt riveting story. Daphne sends Sabrina a sharp look, to which she just shrugs. She rather they get straight to the point and get this over with instead of waiting for the boy to finish his tale.

The boy finally looks up at them, surprise flashing across his face before being replaced by a smirk the oozes cockiness. His lips quirk at the corners, one eyebrow rising as he leans back in his seat. It takes all of Sabrina's strength to stop herself from rolling her eyes. The idiot probably thinks he looks cool. "What? You ladies want to hear more of my marvelous adventures?"

Daphne's smile thins a hair, eyes narrowing as she studies the person in front of her. "As awesome as that would be, we were actually wondering if you're the Robin Goodfellow we've heard so much about?" Her voice comes out honey sweet, turning herself into a shy fan-girl approaching her hero.

Sabrina glances out of the corner of her eye at Daphne, admiration building inside of her. She never realized how good Daphne is at reading people.

Unsurprisingly, Robin eats it up, his chest puffing with pride. "Depends, who's asking?"

The two girls share a look before Sabrina answers, taking what she hopes is a risk that won't come back to bite them in the butt. "Sabrina and Daphne Grimm," she says. She assumes, since this person in front of her is someone Granny considers an asset, and "a nice young man", she probably told him her real name. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the bartender glance up sharply from the cup, eyes widening just a bit before she glances back down.

Sabrina's attention snaps to the bartender, her eyes narrowing before the sound of a cup harshly meeting the wooden bar drags her attention back to the asset. Robin's fingers are still wrapped around the mug he almost broke against the bar, tense and white-knuckled, and she catches an unknown emotion as it flickers across the boy's face before his grin sharpens. Something dark and mischievous clouds his eyes as he tilts his head to the side. "Grimms, huh? And my name isn't Robin. It's Puck, the great Trickster King." He delivers the words with an air of finality and dramatics.

"Okay," Daphne says.

The boy frowns, obviously not expecting that straight-corward reaction. He leans forward. "Puck, as in, Puck from the play? The great Trickster King?" He says the words like they're supposed to mean something, like they have some significant weight. But all Sabrina feels is irritated confusion.

That same confusion, minus the irritation, makes its presence known on Daphne's face. The younger girl blinks at him. "Who from what play?"

The bartender groans.

The dangerous look on his face shatters under the force of looking affronted and irritated. "You mean you haven't heard of me?" He whines. "I'm Puck the Trickster King, ruler of the Wrong Side of the Tracks, leader of all layabouts and lazy bums. The star of the greatest play ever written by that one famous dude who wrote a bunch of other less important stuff." He waves his hand angrily through the air. "A Midsummer Night's Dream?"

Daphne and Sabrina share a look before shaking their heads.

"Never read it," Sabrina deadpans. The name of the play does sound familiar to her, though. She's sure she's heard of it somewhere, but she can't recall a Puck. Really, she doesn't know if she'd tell him even if she did. It's rather enjoyable watching him splutter indignantly.

"I'm a fairy, you idiots!" The boy finally snaps. He stands up, a smooth motion that denies Sabrina's original thought of him being drunk, and holds his arms out wide, the lopsided smirk returning. "You gonna kill me?"

Sabrina recoils and even Daphne takes a step back in shock. Adrenaline slams through her system as her heart jumps in her chest, the boy's- no _thing_ _'_ _s_ \- words echoing through her mind. Her eyes narrow and she sees what she missed because she was too busy paying attention to the slouch, the lazy grin, and that ridiculous crown. The slightly translucent skin, the pointed ears that peek out above the dirty curls, the way he stands, the power that seems to come off him; a general sense of wrongness that shimmers around him. She doesn't realize her hand has moved to grab her gun until she feels Daphne's fingers wrap around her wrist. Every inch of her tenses with the desire to break free from her sister's grasp and kill the smirking thing in front of her. Blood roars in her ears. Why would Granny calls this thing an asset? Why would she come to it for help? She's seen what Everafters do, she knows what they've done to innocent people, to her own children, why would she. . .

Mr. Canis.

The anger ebbs down to a slow throb, leaving behind it a spike of betrayal. A mirthless smirk tugs at the corner of her lips. Of course Granny would risk everything by trusting another Everafter. Of course she wouldn't think to tell them about it. Of course not. She did before, why not do it again?

The fairy's arms drift back down to his sides, what can only be described as disappointment twisting his cocky sneer into a scowl. "What? The great and mighty Grimms don't want to fight? Too afraid you'll get your butts handed to you? 'Cause you would."

"You want to test that theory, fairy boy?" Sabrina forces the words past clenched teeth, fingers already curling into fists.

Daphne cuts in before the thing can respond. "How about you two show off your muscles some other time and we get to the point already?"

Puck's eyes flicker over to her. "And what would that be, short stuff?"

"We wanted to talk to you about our grandmother."

Puck snorts. "Oh yeah, me and the Old Lady go way back." The fairy points an accusing finger at the two of them. "The Old Lady is late by a long shot, by the way, which isn't cool." He stabs his chest with a finger. " _I_ _'_ _m_ the only one who's allowed to be late. Peasants shouldn't dare to be late when meeting with me."

Sabrina raises an eyebrow. "Peasants?" This has to be some kind of dream or prank. Any minute now Granny is going to jump out from a shadowy corner or from behind the bar and yell _surprise!_

"I'm sorry she's late, but what was she supposed to meet with you about?" Daphne asks.

The fairy pouts like a freaking twelve-year-old and Sabrina can't help but think there's no reason to view him as a threat. Surely someone who looks like they're in their late teens shouldn't pout anymore. "Why don't you ask her?"

Daphne swallows and shifts on her feet before answering. "Because she's gone. We can't find her."

Puck jerks his head up in surprise and for a second Sabrina can almost swear she sees concern flash across his face. But then he's glaring at the two of them, green eyes narrowed. "Seriously? I leave her for five seconds and you two end up losing her? What happened to the Old Lady?" Accusation sharpens his voice.

Sabrina and Daphne exchange quick looks. "We were kind of hoping you would be able to help us out with that," Daphne says.

For a moment, Puck looks confused, brows drawn together as his eyes move from Sabrina to Daphne, and then realization dawns. He leans back in his seat and throws his head back, barking out a laugh. "Oh right! Of course!" He throws his arms out wide. "You think I killed her, obviously since I'm the big bad magic man."

What sliver is left of Sabrina's patience begins to wane. "Not going to lie, that thought's crossed our minds." _And still hasn_ _'_ _t gone away._

Daphne nudges her lightly in the side. "We don't know who did what yet."

"Well I didn't kill the Old Lady. She was my only source for free meals."

"That's the only reason you don't kill people?" Fake surprise colors Sabrina's voice. "Wow, how humane."

Puck winks at her. "Humaneness is over-rated, as I'm sure you of all people know."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sabrina snaps.

Puck opens his mouth to snarl back at her but Daphne interrupts, raising her voice to a desperate shout as she practically throws herself between the two of them. "WE THINK SHE MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABDUCTED BY GIANTS!"

Puck freezes mid-shout, mouth open wide, as surprise flashes across his face before skepticism takes its place. One eyebrow rises. "Didn't you people kill all the giants? Have you really sunk so low that you're going around trying to kill extinct creatures now?"

Sabrina feels a growl begin to bubble at the back of her throat. She slams her hand on the bar. The sharp noise causes Daphne to jump, but Puck doesn't. Instead, the motion brings his eyes to her, amusement curling his lips. "Look, you freak," Sabrina growls past gritted teeth. "This is our grandmother we're talking about and for some reason she thought you would be helpful, so why don't you cut the crap and prove her right by telling us what you know or I swear I'll-"

"You'll what? Kill me? 'Cause that's definitely going to get you what you need to know." His lips spread into a wide grin as he stands up from the chair. Cocky amusement shines in his eyes, thinly veiling the anger and hate lurking underneath. "The Old Lady was nice. She bought me food, talked a lot, and didn't treat me like dirt, but that's all. It's not like we had some kind of special bond going on or anything."

The back of Sabrina's neck tingles. " _Had?_ Do you think she's already dead?"

Puck blinks before the smirk falls back into place, thinner than before. His shoulders twitch in a nonchalant shrug. "Who knows? If she's not now, she will be soon. That's what you humans do. You die and that's not my problem."

Sabrina's lips curl, her blue eyes flashing with rage. "You're a disgusting pig."

The fairy has the audacity to laugh. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"Can you at least tell us what the two of you were talking about?" Daphne pleads, her voice strained.

"Nope," Puck says, popping the _p_. He waves his hand vaguely in the air. "There's that whole confidential secret keeping thing we've got going on. I'm sure you two'll understand, being spies and what not." His hand freezes in mid-air, his smile turns sly. "Though, some payment might help jog my memory."

"Oh, you want payment?" It takes all of Sabrina's strength to keep her voice steady, to keep the rage screeching inside under the surface.

His grin widens.

"Fine." Sabrina pulls her arm back and jerks it forward, smashing her fist into his nose. He flies backward with a howl of pain to land in a sprawled heap on the floor, hands covering his now bleeding nose.

"How's that for a start?" Sabrina snarls, reveling in the sting of her knuckles.

Puck jumps up with a growl, face twisted in a snarl and some part of Sabrina feels viciously vindicated at seeing the mask drop, at seeing the anger, the hatred, the _monster_ bleed through his human facade. He lunges toward her but the bartender speaks before his fingers even finish wrapping around the handle of his wooden sword. The woman's voice is soft and rough, but it's enough to cause them both to pause. "If you start any fights in this bar, I will kick all of you out. Remember what you promised." With a significant look at Puck, she puts the rag on the counter and heads into the kitchen.

Puck watches as the door closes behind her, fingers curling and uncurling, weighing his options, before he settles back down in his chair, a scowl on his face.

"What, is the Trickster King going to back down?" Sabrina drawls, blood still surging and adrenaline singing for a fight.

The fairy shrugs. "She's stronger than she looks," he grumbles. Sabrina feels a spark of satisfaction at how his voice sounds nasally.

Beside her, she sees Daphne carefully stick a knife back in its hiding place. The younger girl catches Sabrina's eyes and shakes her head, anger thinning her lips. Sabrina tries not to roll her eyes. She knows she's going to get a lecture on being nice to assets when they get back to the motel.

Puck takes his hand away from his nose and stares at the blood that covers the slender fingers. His laugh is sharp. "That was a good punch." Green eyes move to meet her gaze. "Looks like you're just like your mother." He snarls the words, spitting them into the air like an insult.

The words hit her like a fist to the stomach, knocking all the air from her lungs and beside her Daphne gasps.

Sabrina lunges forward and grabs his shirt, jerking him close enough that their noses almost touch. "How the hell do you know our mother?" Sabrina growls.

He laughs. "I thought you wanted to know about your grandmother? Make up your minds."

Sabrina opens her mouth but Daphne's hand on her arm stops her. Slowly,Sabrina releases Puck's shirt and takes a step back, curling her fingers into fists tight enough to make her hands ache. It feels harder to breathe, like the thoughts whirling through her head, the confusion and anger and worry and hope - the blasted hope- are wrapping around her lungs like a fist. Sabrina digs her fingernails into her palms and focuses on the small sting of pain, forces herself to focus on finding her grandmother. And then, once they've found her, she'll make sure this fairy tells her everything he knows about her parents. No matter what it takes.

Daphne takes a slow, measured breath, but her voice still shakes around the edges when she speaks. "You said Granny helped you, that she was nice to you, and now she needs your help. Please help us find her."

"Nah." Puck throws the word out flippantly, tossing another peanut into his mouth before standing up. "Seems like too much work."

Daphne splutters for a few moments before blurting out. "That's not nice!"

Puck freezes halfway to the door and looks at them over his shoulder. For a second, Sabrina almost believes he's going to change his mind, that he's actually going to help them, but then his lips curl into a smirk too sharp to be mirthful. "I'm a lot of things, shorty, but nice isn't one of them. But I will tell you one thing. We weren't talking about giants." He gives them a two-fingered salute in farewell before shouldering his way out the door.

People continue arguing and drinking around them as the two sisters stand absorbed in shock before anger breaks through Sabrina's surprise. Her eyes narrow into a glare and she starts walking towards the door. "Never mind," she growls. "I've decided I'm actually going to kill that thing."

Daphne's hand on her arm stops her. "Don't, Sabrina. Granny obviously thought he was helpful . . .maybe he'll come around eventually."

Sabrina looks at her sister in shock. "Are you kidding me?" She gestures angrily towards the door. "That _Everafter_ doesn't care for anyone but himself, and is only willing to help other people if it benefits himself." She really doesn't understand why Granny would want to talk to someone as selfish as him.

Daphne looks at her in desperate exasperation and Sabrina's struck with the realization of how tired her sister looks. "Well, can you blame him? Would you help him if someone he knew went missing?"

Sabrina doesn't even have to think about her answer. "No, I think I would just be happy there's one less monster to worry about."

Daphne turns her head to frown at the door, something akin to sadness flickering across her face. "Yeah, maybe he's thinking that now, too."


End file.
